Prophecy of the Legendaries
by Doom187
Summary: A series of events begins to take place which will change the lives of everyone forever. Destiny can at times be the cruelist force in existance. AAMLJJOthers
1. Going Our Seperate Ways

A/N: I have changed the title of this story from "Pokemon Chronicles" to "Prophecy of the Legendaries." It fits the plot a lot better then the old title.

A/N: This is my first Pokemon Fanfic I will try to keep things as accurate as possible but I cannot guarantee that there will be no OOC/Errors etc. I hope whoever reads this story enjoys it and as always R & R. thank you

**DISCLAIMER: I DO _NOT _ OWN POKEMON. NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FETURED IN THE ANIME THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY. THEY ARE PROPERTY OF NINTINDO, GAME FREAK, CREATURES INC. AND ANY OTHER OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I AM NOT DOING THIS FOR ANY PROFIT GAIN WHATSOEVER. ANY ORIGIANL CHARACTERS NOT FETURED IN THE GAME AND/OR ANIME ARE HOWEVER MINE.**

Going Our Separate Ways

It was a dark and rainy night in Viridian City. Giovoni sat in his office of the recently restored Viridian Gym thinking of all his current "business" deals. He had come a long way since he started Team Rocket. He had a lot of success, but just as many failures. He had managed to create one of the most powerful Pokemon ever only to have it turn on him and remain at large to this day. He had managed to develop a radio wave that caused pokemon to evolve only to have it shattered by some kid and the dragon master himself Lance. He had recruited four fantastic agents who all showed promise, completed all their missions successfully and steal some of the rarest and strongest pokemon he had in his possession only to have two of those said agents go on a loosing streak for the past four years trying to capture one measly Pikachu. Now, however, things were going to change...

He was snapped out of his musings when he heard his phone on his desk ringing. _Who the hell could be calling at this time of night?_ He thought as he answered the phone.

"Speak" He stated simply

"Uh…Boss?" Said a familiar female voice on the other end.

"What do you idiots want!" He asked angrily. It was too late at night to be dealing with two failed agents and a freak Meowth. "Whatever it is it had better be important for you to call me this late at night!"

"Night?...Oops sorry boss we forgot about the time difference." Said the female voice again while laughing nervously. "Well let me just get to the point we have some good news and some…ban news."

"Out with it Jessie!" Snapped Giovoni clearly annoyed by his subordinates stalling.

"Ok well you see we still haven't got the Pikachu but we do have some info on what Team Aqua and Magma are trying to do…" Began Jessie nervously. She knew better than to get on the boss' bad side so she hurriedly continued. "Magma is trying to expand the world's land mass while Aqua seems to want to expand the world's oceans-"

"And what was so important about this that you imbeciles had to call me in the middle of the night?" Giovoni asked quietly and a little too calmly. "We deal in Pokemon thievery not occultist fantasy!"

"That's just it boss the teams are trying to use very rare, powerful and ancient Pokemon for their goals" Said the whiney voice of James. "They want to wake up Groundoon and Kyogre and use them for their ends and…"

"Enough!" Shouted Giovoni fed up with their ramblings. He was going to request them to return back to base so they could be "Let Go" when an idea came into his mind. "Jessie, James you have a new mission. From this point on I don't want either of you trying to capture that Pikachu." He paused to hear the momentary gasp and the quickening of their breathing because he knew they thought he was going to request them to return to base and after so many failures he couldn't blame them for being nervous about that. "I want each of you to join one of the two major teams in Hoenn. Jessie you join magma, James you take Aqua. I want a full report from each of you every month on the goings on of both teams and the minute they get close to achieving their goals. You will act as loyal to the leaders of those teams as you would to me and do anything they ask unless it interferes with anything in the Kanto or Johto regions. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!" They said simultaneously. Before a new voice spoke up.

"Hey boss what about Meowth?" Asked Meowth hopefully.

"I could care less what happens to you. You are by far the most worthless Pokemon I've ever laid eyes on. You couldn't even defeat a Magikarp in your training sessions, so as far as I am concerned you do not have a place in either of these missions." Said Giovoni smugly with an affirmative "Purr" from his Persian.

"But boss-" started Meowth

"Enough of you babbling you have your missions now get on it I expect confirmation of your new status and ranks within each team in two weeks. GOOD NIGHT!" And with that the call was ended and Giovoni returned to his musings.

"HE CAN'T DO DIS TO MEOWTH!" Yelled Meowth hysterically to his team mates once the phone call was ended. "I gave him the best years of my third, fourth and fifth life he can't do dis to me!"

"Well pal I don't know what to tell you but you heard him." Said Jessie "He wants me and James to split up and stop trying to get the twerps rat. I don't know about you two but I could use the change. I am sick of getting Thundershocked/bolted/waved and hit with every other attack the twerp throws at us."

"I can't disagree with you there Jess I'm sick of it too." Said James tiredly "Although I am gonna miss you guys…sniff…especially you Jess" James added that last part very quietly so only Meowth heard him.

"What was that James?" Asked Jessie with a raised eyebrow

"Uh…I just said I'd miss you guys a lot..heh heh." Said James nervously

"Don't be such a wimp James." Said Jessie as she rapped James on his head HARD. _This might be the last time I get to do that _She thought silently "We'll see each other again when this missions over you don't have to-"

"WHAT ABOUT MEOWTH!"

"QUIET YOU!" They both said in unison as they pounded the poor cat-pokemon's head in.

"You heard the boss you're on your own fur ball" snapped Jessie coldly

"Sorry Meowth but we don't have much of a choice if we don't do what the boss says…" began James but he shook his head unwilling to voice the truth that all three knew. "Like Jess said your on your own. Good luck pal"

James held out his hand to Meowth but he and Jessie were both rewarded by a Furry Swipes to the face.

"YOU MANGEY ALLYCAT HOW DARE YOU DAMAGE PERFECTION!" Shouted Jessie as she punted Meowth into the distance.

"Looks like Team Ro-"Began Meowth before he caught himself "I mean Meowth's blasting off Alone!"

Meowth went sailing into the distance with tears in his eyes.

"Gee Jess did you have to be that hard on him I mean he is our friend and all-"Started James sadly.

"Quiet James it was…sniff…the only way he'd go willingly." Jessie interjected.

And they both hugged one another and shed silent tears for their team that would never be the same again.

It was a Beautiful morning for Ash Ketchum as he woke up to the smell of something delicious _Wonder what Brock's cooking this morning?_ He thought as his stomach growled.

Upon hearing the rumbling sound from Ash's direction Brock turned from his pot over the fire. "Hey Ash I see you up pretty early excited to get to Lillycove I see." He said cheerily.

"Hmm Lillycove?" Said the camps third and final occupant May as she too was awakened by Brock's cooking

"Yea we should be there by Noon at least it's only about 10 miles away according to the Poke'Nav" Said Brock Knowingly. Ever since Max, May's Younger brother had received his first Pokemon a Castform from the Weather Institute outside Fortree city Brock had been designated Navigator. Max had to stay at the Institute with his Pokemon because he wasn't quite old enough to begin training it legally.

"I would be excited Brock but the only thing that's exciting for me is the Ferry to Mosdeep so I can get my Seventh Gym Badge and be one step closer to the Hoenn League Championship." Ash declared confidently

"Why are you in such a rush to get all your badges anyway Ash it's still about two-and-half years till the next tournament" Said May yawning.

"WHAT!" said Ash now fully awake and hopping out of his sleeping bag. Unfortunately for Ash the shock of the comment caused him to forget about the other occupant of the bag which in turn earned him a nice thunderbolt from Pikachu.

"CHUUU" Yelled the little mouse Pokemon as he pumped his trainer full of lightning before realizing what he was doing and then grinning with an innocent expression on his face. "Chu pika pikapi" ("Oops sorry Ash")

Ash acted as though the thunderbolt never occurred and turned back to May. "What do you mean the Tournament isn't for another two and a half years!"

"Oh, I thought you knew that the Hoenn League wasn't held every year." She said cheerfully. "They hold it every four years and the last one was held about a year and a half ago."

"I don't believe this." Said Ash softly "What the hell am I suppose to do for two years or more." Ash had thought this would go like every other league he'd been in. Get the badges, Have just enough time to make it to the opening ceremonies and then hopefully this time win the Championship. Now he was in the middle of a foreign region over halfway to his qualifying standings for a Tournament that wouldn't happen until he was 17.

Brock seeing Ash's confused look felt it was the perfect time to instill some life lessons into his self proclaimed younger brother/best friend. "Ash this is why you read the fine print on applications and contracts before signing them." Seeing Ash look even more confused Brock took out his Guide to Hoenn and began to read aloud from a specific section. "All trainers participating in the Hoenn League Championships must have ALL the fallowing badges. Stone, Knuckle, Dynamo, Volcano, Balance, Feather, Heart, and Rain. After these badges are obtained a trainer has earned the right to participate in the Hoenn League Championships.-"

"I know all that Brock get to the point" Interrupted Ash.

Brock continued as though he hadn't heard his friend. "-A note to foreign trainers: Once all badges are earned it is not permissible to leave the region until the tournament has been decided. If said trainers leave the region before registering in Ever Grande City the badges shall become null and void unless the trainer is willing to pay a $20,000 fee to keep his/her badges valid." Brock took a deep breath and than put the pamphlet away. "So basically Ash if you want to participate in the League you'll have to stay in Hoenn until it starts."

"Well I guess it can't be that bad." Said Ash as he started to look at the positives of his situation. "I mean I will get to train more and It'll ensure better competition so the only down side is I can't go back to Kanto. Mom is gonna freak when I tell her."

"Yea and so will Misty" Said Brock

"Why would she care?" Asked Ash "I mean yea she is one of my best friends but she has the Gym to run and it's not like I live near Cerulean anyways"

_Does he have to be such an idiot man you would think if I picked up on it He would've by now and I only met her once. _Thought May highly amused by Ash's denseness. "You've got a lot to learn Ash" She said quietly.

After they ate and Ash calmed down about his extended stay in Hoenn they continued on to Lillycove. Once they checked into the Pokemon Center It was off to the contest hall for May's hopeful victory and with it a Master's Ribbon for the beauty contest toughness if you counted Combusken.

Everything seemed to be normal until Brock suddenly stopped on the way to the contest hall. "Hey guys I need to go do something I'll catch up to you later." And with that he went off in the other direction leaving a bewildered Ash, May and Pikachu.

"What was that all about?" Asked May who was totally confused by Brock's sudden departure

"Don't ask me." Said Ash "He probably saw some girls and had to go hit on them. I just hope he doesn't get a sexual harassment charge."

"Yea, but it was still kinda weird and he didn't get all dreamy eyed like he usually does." Said May.

"Yeah well you never know with Brock."

Unfortunately for May she had high standings in both her contests but lost by hair to her rival Drew.

"Told you to give up from the beginning amateur" Taunted Drew as he and his Rosallia began to leave the backstage area.

May stood there with a deadpan expression on her face for about three seconds before calling after Drew "At least I didn't have to use under handed tactics like Petal Dance to startle other people's Pokemon CHEATER!"

"If you call those poorly trained things you keep around Pokemon then I see why they where so easily startled." He replied smugly without turning to face her. "Train more and then try and beat me. Although I have to say I am surprised that your Torchic evolved. I guess you aren't totally without talent."

May stared at him as he walked out of the door if she didn't know better she'd have thought there was a compliment in that last remark, but it was probably her Imagination.

"Are you May Maple?" Asked someone from behind her. May turned to see a man in his early Forties with brown hair and grey eyes. He wasn't overly tall but he was at least 5'8 and he had a kind smile.

"Yes I am, and who are you?"

"My name is Mason Shaw and I run the Pokemon coordinator's school situated right above this hall you're standing in now." Said the man as he smiled "I saw your wonderful choreography during the contests today and I know that with the right nurturing you could be one of the best coordinators in Hoenn if not the world with the skills I've seen you display today."

May blushed slightly at the compliment "Why thank you Mr. Shaw, but I really don't think I'm that good..."

"Don't let what Drew said dampen your spirits my dear. Why when he first came hear he was much worse then you are."

"Drew studied here?" asked May very surprised by this. Mason nodded and May could tell he was being truthful. It shocked her that her rival who seemed to have an endless supply of arrogance actually had help to get to the point where he is now. "So…" began May slowly "If I studied here by the time I was done I'd be able to beat Drew and finally wipe that stupid smirk off his pompous-stupid-irritating-charming-handsome-" _Oh my god what did I just say _"Anyway I can beat Drew if I study here?" She asked hopefully

"I can make no guarantees, but I can assure you it will be a good possibility that you will." Said Mason

"I'll do it!"

Ash sat in the Pokemon Center after returning from the contest Hall. He had a lot on his mind and as always Pikachu was right beside him.

"Pikapi, pi pichu chukka pi?" ("Ash, when are you calling home?") Asked the pokemon while looking up at Ash.

"I suppose I should do it soon Pikachu." Said Ash "I'm just trying to figure out how best to break it to mom." He sighed and went over to the phone and dialed his home number. And the phone began to ring.

"Hello? Ketchum reside-"began Dellia until she saw who it was on the other end "-Hi Honey how are you? Have you been eating right? You have been changing your you-know-what everyday right? And-"

"MOM!" Ash yelled "I'm fine and yes to both questions, but do you have to ask me that every time I call?"

"I just worry sweetie." She said sadly "I miss you and I can't wait to see you back home again."

_Great why does she have to make it even harder_? He thought to himself "Well mom I wouldn't get my hopes up on me coming home anytime soon."

"What's that suppose to mean Ash?" Said his mother who was taken aback by the comment.

"Well I found out today that there is this little snag in my plans for the Hoenn League so I have to stay hear for two and half more years if I want to get in the championships unless I want to pay a huge reinstatement fee for my badges because I'm a foreign trainer." This was all said in one breath and very fast but somehow Dellia caught every word.

"Ashton Ketchum!" She yelled through the phone "If you think I'm going to let you run around in some foreign region for the next two years on your own you've got another thought coming. I want you back here in time for Christmas this year and-"

She was cut off by Ash's response "Mom I know you want me home but I've been working on this for the last six months if I leave all that work will be for nothing and I'll have to start over if I come back. Plus this will give me lots of time for training and it's not like I'll be alone Brock and May will be with me and all my Pokemon too."

"Fine Ash if this is what you really want to do I suppose I can't really stop you." She said sadly. "But I expect you to call at least once every two weeks so I know your okay. Promise me Ash?"

"Promise Mom" Said Ash "I have to go now but I'll call you soon bye Mom love ya."

"Love you too sweetie" She said as Ash ended the call.

"Well Pikachu that went a lot better then I expected it too.

"PIka, Pi Pikachu" ("Yeah, She took it well") agreed Pikachu.

They were going to head back into their room but were stopped when someone called out to Ash. "Ash!" It was Brock "I need to talk to you its pretty important."

"Sure Brock-O, what's up?" Asked Ash turning to Brock

"Well, you know how I got that letter from my brother while we were in Fortree?" He asked.

"Yea what about it?" Answered Ash "You wouldn't tell me what it was about so I figured whatever it was must have been really personal."

"Well it is but that's not why I didn't tell you what was in it." Said Brock 'The letter was telling me that he wasn't doing to well as the Gym Leader and that he was always at odds with our parents and other siblings and basically its pure chaos back in Pewter."

"Wow that's rough." Said Ash. _I hope he isn't going where I think he is with this._ "So what did you need to talk to me about then?"

_Can he really be that clueless after all this time? _Thought Brock "Well Ash when I left earlier I called home and the situation is worse then I thought so I'm going to be on the next Ferry heading back to Kanto." Said Brock sadly.

"This day just keep getting worse and worse." Muttered Ash "First I find out I have to stay in Hoenn A LOT longer than I expected and now you have to leave. This day couldn't possibly get any wor-"

"Hey guys guess what I just got excepted to one of the most acclaimed Pokemon Coordinators schools." Said May cheerfully as she walked through the doors of the Pokemon Center. Upon seeing the sad looks on her friend's faces she immediately started to worry. "What's wrong guys?"

"Correction now the day can't get worse." Said Ash sadly as he headed out the doors of the Pokemon Center.

"What's his problem?" Asked May "I thought he'd be happy for me."

"He is but he has a lot on his mind I'll explain…"

Ash was walking along the shore of Lillycove when Pikachu suddenly asked Ash a question.

"Pikapi pika chu chu pikachu chu ka?" ("Ash have your thought about bringing some of the others here?")

"What do you mean Pikachu?" Asked Ash

"Pi pi pi pikachu pika pikachu pika" ("If your going to be in Hoenn for a while your other pokemon will probably miss you.") He responded

"Hmm maybe your right I should probably switch between pokemon a lot more then I do." Said Ash. "But we're so far away from Pallet out here every time I call Prof. Oak It costs a fortune.

"PIka chu pikachu chu pika?" ("Why not transfer the others to Prof. Birch?") Asked the Pokemon.

"Hey buddy that's a great idea I can use the local PC system if I did that. Good thinking Pikachu."

After that they walked in silence and Ash continued thinking to himself. _I told Mom I wouldn't be alone but it looks like I was wrong. Brock is Leaving, May is staying here and I have to continue on. I knew they wouldn't always be around but still I didn't think they'd leave so soon. The past few months have been great. I've seen a bunch of new Pokemon met a lot of people and had some very interesting adventures here in Hoenn. Now It'll be me and my Pokemon. No Brock, no May, no Max and no Misty. _They continued walking until nightfall when Ash returned to the Pokemon Center.

"Hey Ash" Said Brock Awkwardly "You okay?"

"Yea I'm fine now Brock just needed some time to think." Then Ash got a sudden Idea "Brock why don't we have another Battle before you go?"

"Sure but it'll have to be tonight because my boat leaves in the morning." Replied Brock. He was a little surprised by Ash's request but he was glad to see his friend in a better mood. "Nurse Joy gave me back both our Pokemon so we can do it anytime."

"Alright then hand me my pokeballs and lets head outside." Said Ash confidently. Brock handed him his pokeballs and they both headed out the door toward the battle field outside the Center. "How's a three-on-three sound to you?"

"Fine by me." Said Brock

"Hey guys wait for me!" Yelled May as she ran out of the Center and into the battlefield panting. "I wanna see this"

"Fine May you be the judge then" Said Brock

"Okay" She answered. "This is a Three-on-Three pokemon battle with no time limit. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town versus Brock Slate from Pewter City Begin!"

"Lombre I choose you" Said Brock as the aquatic-plant pokemon appeared on the field.

"Okay, in that case I choose you Swellow" Said Ash as he threw his pokeball revealing a black and white bird with red feathers around it's neck area.

"Loombree" ("Ah fresh air")

"Swellow Swe" ("Your going down")

"Lombre use water gun"

"Swellow dodge it and use a Wing Attack"

Lombre attempted to hit Swellow with it's water gun but Swellow managed to dodge it.

"Lombre don't let that wing attack hit you use Astonish"

Lombre's eyes began to glow purple and suddenly a bright purple light flashed causing Swellow to flinch and pull out of his attack

"Now Lombre use Water Gun"

"Swellow look out!"

Lombre fired another Water Gun this time managing to hit Swellow and send him tumbling through the air.

"Swellow you okay?" Asked Ash concerned for his pokemon

"SWELLOW!" ("PAYBACK!") Yelled the bird as he righted himself and glared at Lombre.

"Okay Swellow use gust attack"

"Lombre brace yourself and use protect"

Swellow began pumping his wings incredibly fast and launched a vicious Gust attack straight toward Lombre. Lombre tried to put up a protect but it failed to activate in time and he was sent tumbling and smacked into the wall on the other side of the battle field. Lombre struggled to get up but collapsed defeated.

"Lombre is unable to battle Swellow and Ash are the winners" Said May cheerfully.

"That was a nice attack Ash I didn't think a Gust could be that powerful." Said Brock as he returned Lombre to his pokeball. "Now try this Mudkp GO!"

Brock threw the pokeball and out popped the little blue Mudkip "Kip" ("Hi")

"Okay Swellow lets try a Steel Wing attack"

"Mudkip It's still week from battling Lombre when it gets close to you use Muddy Water"

As Swellow started charging towards Mudkip It's wing began to glow a silvery white color. Mudkip waited for the bird to get closer before rolling in the dirt and then firing a high powered water gun all around causing a large mudslide that struck Swellow as he was coming down for his attack.

"Ah! Swellow!" Yelled Ash as his pokemon landed in the big pile of mud "Can you still fly Swellow?"

Swellow struggled to get up. "Don't let it out of the mud Mudkip use your Tackle attack" Commanded Brock

Mudkip charged at Swellow full speed slamming into him and sending him hurtling through the air to land at Ash's feet.

"Swe…low" ("Must….win") Said the bird as he collapsed at his trainer's feet.

"Swellow is unable to battle Mudkip and Brock are the winners." Announced May.

"Good job Swellow take a rest." Said Ash as he returned Swellow to his pokeball "Alright, Grovyle your up!" Said Ash as he threw out his next pokemon

"Grovyle" ("Ready") Said Grovyle as he put his trademark twig in his mouth.

"Mudkip use Mud-Slap to blind him."

"Grovyle drive right though it with a Leaf-Blade"

Mudkip kicked up some mud remaining from the puddle where Swellow had been and launched it at Grovyle. Grovyle however charged straight toward the incoming mud its leaves on its arms glowing a brilliant white color and slashed straight through the mud hitting Mudkip dead on with the attack. Mudkip being both water and ground types fainted from the powerful grass-type attack.

"Mudkip is unable to battle Grovyle and Ash win!" Said May.

"Okay Ash time to get serious." Said Brock as he returned Mudkip to her pokeball. "Forretress I choose you!"

"Forretress" ("Ready")

"Grovyle use a slam attack"

"Forretress Harden"

Grovyle jumped into the air preparing to slam it's tail into Forretress when suddenly Forretress started glowing white. When Grovyle's attack hit he was instantly repelled from the hard iron body of Forretress

"GROVYLE VYELE" ("AH THAT HURT!")

"Forretress use Pin Missile!"

"Grovyle try to dodge it"

Forretress launched several miniature spikes straight at Grovyle who tried his best to avoid them but only managed to dodge about half of them. The impact cause Grovyle to loose his balance and fall to the ground.

"It's not done yet Forretress use Rapid-Spin and finish it off!"

"Grovyle use Bullet Seed before it gets to you!"

Forretress began to spin so fast that it caused a miniature cyclone with itself in the middle. Grovyle attempted to spit numerous seeds at it but they were all deflected due to the high powered Rapid-Spin. Forretress slammed into Grovyle ruthlessly causing the gecko-like pokemon to fly several feet away and land with a loud thud. Grovyle didn't even attempt to get up and just lay in a heap on the side of the field.

"Grovyle!" Yelled Ash

"PIka pi pikachu pi pika!" ("He's okay but I want to take Forretress!") Declared Pikachu

"Grovyle is unable to battle Forretress and Brock are the winners" Said May

'You deserve a rest Grovyle." Said Ash as he returned Grovyle to his pokeball. "Pikachu I choose you!"

"PIKA" ("FINALLY")

"Forretress Earthquake!"

"Pikachu use Thunder Wave to paralyze it before it uses Earthquake!"

Pikachu let out a massive stream of electricity and sent it toward Forretress. However, Forretress still managed to initiate the attack and Pikachu was knocked up into the air by the ground of the battle field exploding at his feet. Pikachu managed to shake off the attack and leapt up into a fighting pose.

"Forretress shake off that paralysis and use a Façade!"

"Pikachu Thunderbolt!"

Forretress managed to get itself to perform the attack and headed straight toward Pikachu who launched a powerful thunderbolt attack toward it. Pikachu was hit hard by Forretress but Forretress was still hit by the thunderbolt. Both combatants were now exhausted but neither refused to give up.

"Okay Forretress finish this with Hyper Beam!"

"Pikachu use Zap Cannon!"

Both Pokemon powered up to unleash their most powerful attacks. Forretress formed a beam of yellow energy in it's mouth while pikachu raised his paws above his head and channeled electricity between them from his cheeks.

"FIRE!" Both Ash and Brock Screamed in unison.

The attacks were fired and collided with a huge explosion that light up the surrounding area and filled the field with smoke.

"PIKACHU!" Yelled Ash

"FORRETRESS!" Yelled Brock

"AHHHH!" yelled May.

The smoked cleared to reveal both pokemon still standing! This lasted about two seconds before Pikachu and Forretress both fainted from exhaustion.

After being reprimanded by Nurse Joy. This was annoying to Ash, but highly pleasurable for Brock. They got their pokemon back and headed to bed. Neither of them wanted the next day to come but they knew it was inevitable. Ash had called Prof. Oak after the battle and after much pleading and recalling favors. (Namely his long trek to give Kurt the GS ball) Ash managed to persuade the Professor to transfer all his pokemon even Bulbasaur to Pouf. Birch's Lab in Littleroot Town. He also tried to call Misty but didn't get an answer so decided to forget it since Brock would see her anyway. May had also called her parents earlier and got permission from Norman to stay in Lillycove to begin studying the ways of the coordinator. They all knew that this was the last night they would spend together before they all went their separate ways in pursuit of their own dreams.

A/N: Like it, Hate it? Please tell me. Any review is appreciated but Flames for no reason are just mean and rude so if you can't be constructive please don't review. I've got most of this story planned out so if people say they want to read more of it I will get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Till next time: Doom

Please report any errors in spelling or just plane errors in general to me thanks.


	2. A Plan in Action pt 1

A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter Hope you readers enjoy it.

A Plan in Action: Birds of a Feather

Giovoni was in an excellent mood thanks to a shipment he'd just received from some of his scientists stationed in Silph Co. They had just shipped him a dozen Master Balls. These special pokeballs were capable of capturing any pokemon without fail and causing them to become totally obedient. The last set he had were still in the experimental stages and the pokemon contained in them managed to break free of the balls control. This time however he was sure that little glitch was taken care of. And now that he had his new "Toys" It was time to put phase one of his next plan into action.

"009" Said Giovoni into an intercom on his desk

"Yes boss?" Answered Domino from the intercom

"Prepare my jet we're going on a trip." Said Giovoni

"Where to sir?" Asked Domino

"Lightning Island" Answered Giovoni

An hour later 100 rocket grunts and four rocket executives including Giovoni were on their way to the Orange Islands

Lugia was looking forward to seeing his family again. It had been about two decades since he'd seen his wife or his son. Because of his charges, Zaptos, Articuno Moltres, he hardly got to see them. He kept in regular telepathic contact with his mate and was ecstatic when she informed him that they'd be flying near the Orange Islands soon. The only thing that could ruin this for him is if the three brats err birds started acting up again. He doubted this though after the hurting he had given them last time. _And now I wait I don't even think the birds will try anything with me and my mate around. _He thought. Little did he know how wrong he was.

Giovoni and his team arrived on one of the outlying areas near the Elemental Archipelago to begin preparations for their mission.

"I want us to divide into three groups." Began Giovoni "Bason you will take 30 grunts and head to Ice Island. Bashou you will take another 30 and head to Fire Island. The rest of you are with me and 009. I want the pokemon types distributed as fallows. Each group will have predominantly rock types. For Fire and Ice Island you should each have a number of Electrodes and Magnaton. I expect you know what to do with them?" After he received affirmative responses from all present he continued. "Once you arrive on the Islands begin attacking the Shrines immediately. This will draw out our prey and it will eventually draw out our main target. MOVE OUT!"

The Lugia family were enjoying themselves and catching up on what they'd missed in the last 20 years.

"_So you say they captured him in a cage like a common Pidgey!" _Asked Lugia angrily his mate was telling him about how the team rocket scientist Namba captured their son and tried to use him to get her for their Rage Enhancer device. "_Why didn't you ask me for help? You know I would've come no matter what Mew would have said about it later."_

"_You see how you're acting now?" _She responded _"I was just as angry if not more so and at the time all I could think about was saving our son. You know it takes a calm mind to communicate over long distances and mine was anything but calm. That boy and the human they call the Dragon Master helped us out so I felt it didn't need to trouble you . Besides you were still resting after that "chosen one" business weren't you?"_

"_I suppose you are correct still-" _He was knocked out of his conversation by a loud piercing cry."

("MY ISLAND!")

"TOOOSSS!" Yelled Zaptos angrily upon seeing a horde of Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Rhydon decimating his Island. _THE NERVE OF THESE INSECTS TO THINK OF DESICRATING MY SACRED SHRINE THEY SHALL PAY! _He thought angrily to himself as he flew into battle.

This was the moment Giovoni had been waiting for. Order all pokemon to launch Rock Blast at that bird NOW!" He ordered

All the rock-pokemon stopped trashing the Island and started Launching rocks of all sizes from their mouths or throwing them at incredible speeds toward the Thunder Titan. Zaptos was infuriated further by the impudence of these pokemon to try and attack him. He launched a titanic Whirlwind attack which sent the rocks back where they came from.

"Don't let him do that to you." Yelled Giovoni to his Grunts and their pokemon "Keep those attacks coming go from different angles he can't stop them all!"

And so they did so. Rocks began coming at Zaptos from every direction. He managed to stop a great deal of them but there were over 40 rock pokemon down there and even some ice pokemon. Once the ice beams and Blizzard attacks started he was forced to try and retreat to think of another game plan.

"Oh no you don't." Said Giovoni as he took a pokeball out of his pocket. "Persian Hyper Beam Now!"

As soon as the classy cat was revealed out of his pokeball he launched a terrifying Hyper Beam straight at Zaptos. Zaptos was too preoccupied with dodging rocks and ice attacks while shooting thunder every chance he had. When the Hyper Beam hit he was hit right between the wings and he went crashing to the ground.

"This is it men surround it!" Commanded Giovoni as the Rockets and their pokemon surrounded the Thunder Bird. "Domino use that Pokeball I gave you earlier!"

Domino complied and threw the master ball and it hit Zaptos on the wing. He struggled to break free, but the ball's force field proved too much for him and Zaptos was captured.

Bashou had her orders and she knew exactly what to do, so as soon as her team reached Fire Island they began destroying the shrine there. Within half an hour their prey arrived as well.

"TREEEESSSS" Yelled Moltres as he looked at his decimated shrine. Like Zaptos he was beyond rage by the arrogance of these humans and their pokemon and he intended to make them pay. He wasted no time in launching an awesome Overheat Attack that covered the whole island burning trees and causing several of the humans who didn't come prepared with heat resistant armor to scream in pain as they were literally burned alive. Most of the pokemon being rock, ground and water type. Weren't overly bothered by the heat although a few did sufferer burns. Moltres was shocked that anyone survived that attack so launched another, but thanks to Overheat deteriorating in power after every use the attack wasn't nearly as powerful as the first and it left Moltres momentarily winded.

"Hit it with water and rock attacks now!" Yelled Bashou to her remaining men and their pokemon she had lost about ten grunts between the two Overheat attacks and even with her armor she sustained so first and second degree burns on her body.

The pokemon launched their attacks and the winded phoenix could barely stand after being hit with Hydro Pumps, Water Pulses, Rock Blasts and Rock Slide attacks. The only pokemon ever to hurt Moltres this bad was Zaptos and on occasion Lugia and he was not going to allow these sorry excuses for attacks be the death of him. He gathered all of his remaining power preparing to initiate a powerful Fire Blast but was interrupted when he felt something hard hit him under his wing. The next thing he knew the world had gone black and it felt like something was compressing him into a small space. Then he knew no more.

With her mission complete Bashou picked up the Master Ball and headed to rendezvous with the boss.

Bason's team had the worst going out of any of the teams. Because Ice Island was always cold and snowy by the time Articuno showed up and started launching Hail and Blizzard attacks Bason could barely see to give any orders. "Everyone with a fire type use Overheat Now!" He ordered desperate to keep the cold at bay. "When we get a glimpse of that thing hit it with every electric and rock attack you can think of!"

The pokemon did as their masters bid and after the fire types used their Overheat attacks Articuno was clearly visible above the island. As soon as the pokemon saw her they launched even more attacks desperate to bring down the Ice Titan. However Articuno was not going down alone. She unleashed a Shear Cold attack that managed to make half the pokemon faint unfortunately for her the attacks were already released and she too fell victim to a Master Ball like the other legendary birds.

By the time Lugia and his mate arrived it was too late to save any of the birds and it was also too late to avoid Giovoni's trap. Lugia and his mate had been at the bottom of the Ocean between the islands with their son when they had heard Zaptos' cry of rage. They had then told their son to stay put and they went to investigate what the noise was about thinking that it was the usual feuding between the birds. But what they saw when they breached the surface baffled them. No rain. No lightning. No thunder. Plane blue sky and everything seemed calm. This lasted the better part of thirty seconds when Lugia suddenly sensed a massive amount of electricity headed his way. He and his mate both used Safeguard to block the attacks and turned around to see where they came from. Right off the coast of Lightning Island a large frigate with a large 'R' on the side was headed straight for them. On the deck of the boat 70 humans each holding pokeballs.

On board the frigate Giovoni was shocked to see two Lugias instead of the one he was expecting. While this could become a problem it could also become a great opportunity "009 how long until the birds are done in the rejuvenator?" Asked Giovoni talking into his headset.

"about another 20 minutes sir they were hurt pretty badly during their capture." Replied Domino.

"That's not good enough have them done in ten!" Commanded Giovoni "We have unexpected company and we'll need all the fire power we can get."

"yes sir." Answered Domino as she pumped the rejuvenator to maximum output causing other systems like navigation and lighting to cease functioning.

"Send out the Skarmory and Murkrow now!" Yelled Giovoni to the grunts surrounding the deck. Since this battle was begin waged over the ocean rock and fire types would be pretty useless. "Get those Whiscash in the water Now!"

The pokemon immediately began to surround the Lugias from all sides and awaited their commands. However Lugia wasn't going to let the get any he immediately unleashed Aero Blast towards the Murkrow and Skarmory while his partner use Confusion on the Whiscash. The Skarmory being steel types were only minimally damaged and the Murkrow avoided the attack by using Faint Attack and hitting Lugia hard. The Whiscash dove under the water and retaliated with ice beams toward the female Lugia who managed to dodge most of them and take minimal damage by the few that connected.

Giovoni ordered the frigate to move closer to the battle area then commanded the release of all the ghost pokemon available. Within minutes the Rocket forces were doubled with the addition of Haunters, Gengars, Sableye and various other dark ghost pokemon. This was the moment of truth all his careful planning for the past months was about to pay off he could feel it. "Order the ghosts to use Shadow Ball now!" Yelled Giovoni.

Their orders given the ghosts prepared to launch the dark onslaught. Lugia hurriedly put up protect and his mate did the same as the attacks slammed into them their shields barely able to hold out. The battle was quickly tiring them and they knew if they didn't do something soon they would be captured like the three birds. Lugia decided to use Whirlpool attack to get rid of the boat. While he usually didn't like harming humans he saw no choice but to get rid of the cause of the problem.

"Sir the birds are fully rejuvenated what are your orders?" Asked Domino

"Excellent I will command them." Said Giovoni as he took the three master balls from Domino. "Articuno, Zaptos, and Moltres I choose you!" He then threw the balls into the air and the three elemental titans rose into the sky. Just as the whirlpool began to form around the ship "Articuno use Blizzard on the Lugia using Whirlpool Zaptos, Moltres attack the other with Fire Spin on Thunderbolt!"

Concentrating on his Whirlpool Lugia didn't see the Blizzard coming until it was too late and it broke his concentration on the Whirlpool. Meanwhile his partner was too busy trying to stave off Shadow balls and Faint Attacks to notice the fire and lightning that slammed into her. The birds healed themselves with recover but they where still fatigued from using so many attacks.

Wondering what was taking his parents so long and seeing that there was a lot of commotion going on above the water the young Lugia decided to take a look and started heading toward the surface.

"Articuno, Zaptos, Moltres Triple Hyper Beam!" Commanded Giovoni "The rest of you keep them distracted!"

The pokemon began to surround the Lugias again when suddenly they both released Aero Blast knocking half of the flying and ghost pokemon out of the sky the other half were push back by the shockwave and their attacks fired off course. Then suddenly the female Lugia was hit by three very powerful yellow beams and she went crashing towards the sea below!

"_NO!" _Screamed Lugia now full of rage as he unleashed a vicious Dragon Breath aiming straight at Moltres

"Articuno Block that attack with Ice Beam" commanded Giovoni "Zaptos Thunder. Moltres Fire Blast!"

By this time the young Lugia saw his mother take the Hyper Beams and saw his father hit by the thunder, ice and fire attacks.

Before Lugia passed out he sent his son a mental message "_RUN find the chosen one and tell him to…" _

("To what father?") asked the younger Lugia aloud.

This got him the attention of Giovoni. _A third one! _He thought astonished at his luck "Hit that little bird with a Hyper beam you three!" He ordered the birds.

They all charged up and prepared for the attack and just as they launched their attacks the mother Lugia jumped in the path and took the attacks intended for her son. _"I love you my son…Now Go!_" she commanded and with that the beams hit and she knew no more. The young Lugia did as he was told and left to find the chosen one but he would never forget the sacrifice his mother made nor the man who caused her to make it.

Giovoni recalled the three birds to their pokeballs and threw another at the unconscious Lugia in floating in the water. He was so week he couldn't even put up a struggle and just like that he was captured.

A/N well that's it for this chapter Please R & R. I hope you enjoyed this one since it had more action in it let me know how I can make it better.


	3. A Plan in Action pt 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A Plan in Action: Fall of the Elite

The Indigo Plateau was busy as usual in preparations for the upcoming tournament in two months. Lance was busy with some paperwork in his office concerning the sponsorship of the tournament. There were several hundred sponsors and each one had its own contract that needed to be reviewed. All in all it was a very tedious process that he wished someone else could do. _Maybe I should've taken Karen's suggestion and hired a secretary. _He thought to himself. He would much rather be out training his pokemon then doing this.

He was so lost in thought that he wasn't even reading the paperwork anymore and just started to sign off on some randomly while throwing away others. He was so lost in thought in fact that he didn't even hear his door open or see the person walk in until a large beefy hand suddenly slammed on his desk accompanied by a very loud and deep voice.

"Lance! How you been buddy?" Said Bruno as he watched lance jump about five feet out of his chair.

"Bruno do you have to do that every time you get the chance?" Asked Lance exasperatedly "What brings you here anyway?"

"What do you mean? You called for a meeting with all the Elite Four. Didn't you?" Asked Bruno confused.

"Umm…I don't think I did, but I could be wrong." Said Lance trying to remember if he called a meeting or not.

"This is why I told you to get a secretary to plan out your day Lance." Said Karen as she walked through the office doors. "You sent out a memo two days ago for all of us to meet here to discuss the plans for the new tournament structure. Remember?"

"No actually I don't remember." Said Lance still trying to figure out what these two were talking about. "Although we do need to discuss that so I guess now is a good of time as any. Where are Koga and Will?"

"Right here." Said Koga from the door as he and Will walked into the room.

"Alright then let's get down to business." Said Lance

"Cassidy are you in position?" Asked the voice of Giovoni through Cassidy's headset

"Affirmative sir awaiting your command." She responded from her position overlooking the Indigo League headquarters.

"Fire" Said Giovoni simply

Cassidy raised her rocket Launcher and looked through the scope to get a perfect aim on Lance's window. She waited for him to get up and close the blinds before depressing the trigger and sending a high impact rocket straight for the window. She watched with unprecedented glee as the missile crashed through the window and detonated tanking out the whole corner of the building. Nothing could survive that.

"Mission complete. Returning to base." She said through her headset. Then she took out a pokeball. "Alakazam Teleport."

The loyal pokemon materialized and teleported itself and its trainer away from the scene.

Brock had been back in Pewter for almost a year now. He had managed to turn part of the Gym into a breeding center which he himself managed. It was a pretty lucrative side business since he made everything from his patented pokemon food to his revolutionary grooming products he got plenty of clients. He stayed out of the Gym Leader scene mostly unless his brother or father absolutely couldn't battle. Then Brock would take Onix and Graveler and crush almost any opponent seeking a Bolder Badge. Today was one of those days.

"Onix Fissure!" Commanded Brock

"Vileplume Petal Dance again" Yelled his opponent.

Unfortunately for the trainer his Vileplume began to get confused after using Petal Dance so many times and didn't manage to avoid the large chasm opening in the ground. The trainer had no choice but to recall his pokemon.

"Nice try but my Onix hardly ever misses a Fissure attack and you should know that Petal Dance makes your pokemon confused the more you use it." Said Brock knowingly

"I don't need training tips from you!" Said the trainer.

_Wow this kid sounds a lot like Ash. _Thought Brock. "Just some helpful advice kid. Send out your next Pokemon."

"KID!" I'll show you!" Said the trainer indignantly. "Go Mantine!"

"Tine!" It said as it appeared from its pokeball

"Mantine Bubble Beam attack!"

"Onix Harden. Then Bind it!"

Onix used Harden to raise its defense but the attack still did a lot of damage. However Onix shrugged off the pain and managed to wrap itself around Mantine.

"Oh no Mantine!" Yelled the trainer "Use Supersonic"

"Onix Slam it before it uses that attack!" Yelled Brock

Mantine began emitting a high pierced noise causing Onix to loose its grip and roar in frustration and pain from the awful noise.

"Now Mantine while it's confused use Hydro Pump!"

"Onix snap out of it!" Yelled Brock

Unfortunately for Onix it was too late and the high powered water attack struck him full on causing the mighty serpent to topple to the ground.

"Not too bad kid." Commented Brock as he returned his pokemon to its ball. "You beat my strongest pokemon. Too bad it took you two of yours to do it. Go Graveler!"

Graveler materialized from his pokeball with a loud "GRAVELER GRAV!" (FOR ONIX!")

"Ok Mantine this should be easy use Bubble Beam on it!"

"Graveler Defense Curl and use Rollout to dodge it!"

Mantine shot a stream of concentrated bubbles toward Graveler but the attack missed and Graveler continued to roll around the field picking up speed.

"Now Graveler hit it!"

"Mantine Water Pulse!"

Graveler picked up even more speed and headed straight for Mantine only to be hit with a thick cloud of mist and sonic waves. However thanks to the continued Defense Curl he still managed to hit Mantine with the Rollout attack. Mantine fell out of the air winded but not out of the fight.

"Graveler now's your chance use Rock Throw!"

"Mantine Protect!"

Graveler dug its hands into the stadium floor and pulled up a large chunk of rock and hurled it toward Mantine, but the Protect stopped the Rocks in their tracks.

"Mantine one more Water Pulse should do it!" Said the trainer

"Graveler Dig!" Said Brock

As the Water Pulse headed toward Graveler he dug a hole and waited for his next command.

"Now we've got you!" Smirked the trainer "Mantine Earthquake!"

"Oh Crap!" Said Brock he knew Graveler was too weak from battling to move fast enough to get out of the whole, but he still had to try. "Graveler get under it and use Explosion!"

Mantine soared high into the air and prepared to ram the ground at full force. Meanwhile Graveler got right under Mantine's position and started to head up. As Mantine came crashing toward the ground Graveler started growing a bright white and unleashed a powerful blast that knocked both himself and the Mantine out.

"Hey! What'd you do that for!" Yelled the trainer "You where gonna loose anyway why'd you have to hurt my Mantine!"

"For one I didn't hurt your Mantine too much it's just fainted." Said Brock "And two my Graveler wanted revenge for your Mantine knocking out my Onix. Don't worry according to the rules you still get your badge."

"What's it matter what the pokemon want they're here to battle for us and that's it!" yelled the trainer.

"Listen kid-" Began Brock

"Stop calling me kid my name's Chad and I'm from Mahogany Town!" Said the trainer now identified as Chad.

"Fine _Chad_" Said Brock "You need to treat your pokemon with respect otherwise you won't make it much farther." Brock then walked over and handed him his badge. "You win but if you think you can win based on elemental advantages alone your sadly mistaken. Remember my Onix still took down your Vileplume even though it was at a type disadvantage. Do you know why?"

"Because you respect your pokemon?" Asked Chad mockingly "Pokemon are tools for battle nothing more and I don't need a lecture from someone who _Lost_ to me to tell me how to battle. Bye Looser."

_On second thought he reminds of Gary not Ash. _Thought Brock as he watched Chad leave the arena. _Better get back to the breeding center to heal Onix and Graveler. _

"Are the agents in position?" Asked Giovoni into his communicator

"Yes Boss we are all standing by to receive your orders." Replied Butch "All our Agents are ready to attack the Kanto Gyms once you give the signal."

"Proceed." Said Giovoni. He then hit another button on his radio to switch to a new channel "Kason are you ready? The attacks begin in a matter of minutes make sure to look like the hero of Fuschia."

"Understood sir." Said the voice on the other end, Kason. He was the current Fuschia Gym leader whom Giovoni put into the spot when he saw the opening after Koga's successor left to train in Johto. "I will not let you down."

"Giovoni heard a loud rumble outside the Gym and he knew the attacks had just started.

Misty was training with he pokemon in the large pool of Cerulean Gym. The battles for the day had been easy so she decided her pokemon could practice their moves on each other.

"Gyradose Twister, Corsala Mirror Coat!" She ordered her pokemon.

Gyradose launched his Twister straight at Corsala who used her Mirror Coat to reflect the attack back at him. Gyradose moved and the no large water spire headed toward the doors of the pool hall just as Misty's sisters Violet and Lilly were heading into the pool area. They both screamed as the twister dissipated and turned into a large wave that drenched both of them.

"Like control you pokemon little sis!" Yelled Violet angrily. "You could've like hurt us or something!"

"The sign on the door said: WARNING TRAINING IN PROGRESS." Said Misty "It is not my fault that you two can't read!"

"Whatever!" They said in unison. "We like need to use the pool before you let all the water out of it with that thing." Continued Violet as she pointed to Gyradose.

"My Gyradose is not a _Thing!_" Yelled Misty "He's my cute little pokemon. Right Gyradose?"

"Gyrooooooooo" ("I am not little!")

"See he agrees with me!" Shouted Misty "You two can have the pool I'm done training anyway."

She was about to recall her pokemon when a loud rumble was heard from the other side of the Gym near the performance pool. This was accompanied by the ear piercing scream of their other sister Daisy.

"What the hell!" All three said in unison before remembering the second sound they heard. "DAISY!" and they took off down the hall toward the sound Misty's pokemon close behind.

Meanwhile in Pewter City Brock was just putting his pokemon in the rejuvenator when suddenly there was a loud explosion accompanied by malicious laughter.

"Prepare for trouble"

"Make it Double"

"To infect the world with devastation"

"To Blight all people's within our nation"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above"

"Fiona!"

"Creig"

"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or you'll surely loose the fight"

"Grandbull" ("That's Right")

"Team Rocket?" Asked Brock confused. He knew that there were other members of the team besides Jessie and James but after seeing them for so long it was a little hard to believe being attacked by another team. And this team was a bit different then Jessie and James. They had Blue uniforms with red R's on the chest and the girl had blue hair and green eyes while the man had long red hair that was in a Ponyta tail down his back with piercing purple eyes. The Grandbull looked like any other Grandbull except it was wearing some kind of charm around its nick that looked like a golden claw on a chain with a silk scarf wrapped around it. "What do you want?"

"We want whatever we can take." Said the girl, Fiona, smirking "Like the motto says surrender now or you'll surely loose the fight."

"I've beaten creeps like you before and I sure as hell can do it again." Said Brock

"Oh, big words for such a puny man!" Said Creig mockingly. He was a lot taller then Brock so to him Brock was a little-man.

"Enough of this" Said Fiona as she drew a pokeball from her belt "Go Dunsparce!"

Her partner fallowed her motions and withdrew his own pokeball "Lanturn destroy!"

Brock withdrew two of his own pokeballs "Forretress, Lombre, I choose you!"

The pokemon materialized inside the Breeding Center and took their battle positions.

"Dunsparce Flamethrower that Forretress"

"Lanturn Thunder on that Lombre!"

"Lombre water gun on that flamethrower, Forretress block that Thunder!"

Dunsparce took a deep breath and sent a long stream of flames toward Forretress however Lombre blocked the attack with its Water Gun. Forretress tried to take the Thunder for Lombre but it wasn't fast enough and the attack connected with its intended target. Lombre being part grass type wasn't hurt too badly by it, but it still did a good bit of damage.

"Dunsparce Flamethrower again hit that Forretress!"

"Lanturn poison that Lombre with Toxic!'

"Forretress send the Toxic back with Rapid Spin! Lombre block that Flamethrower!"

Again the attacks were unleashed. When the toxic started heading toward Forretress Dunsparce hit the poison with its fire attack causing it to be set ablaze. Forretress being extremely weak against fire stopped his Rapid Spin and moved attempted to dodge the tainted fireball unfortunately he was hit full force by the Flamethrower. Meanwhile the flaming toxic was put out by Lombre's Water Gun and the attack was neutralized. Lombre sighed in relief until the Grandbull slammed into him with a vicious Body Slam attack. Both of Brock's pokemon were down.

Brock reached for another pokeball but was stopped when he heard a pistol being cocked. "Don't move or I'll shoot each one in the head one by one." Said a new voice from behind him. He turned to see another Rocket this one in a normal grunt's uniform with a pistol aimed at his baby brother's head. The rest of his family were also there surrounded by yet more members of Team Rocket.

"Surrender!" Demanded Creig

Brock had no choice he recalled his pokemon and put his hands above his head.

Daisy Waterflower had been practicing some show routines with her Dewgong when one of the walls suddenly caved in and debris flew everywhere, and just like at Pewter there was a triumphant cackle fallowed shortly thereafter with a pair of chorusing voices.

"Prepare for trouble"

"Make it Double"

"To infect the world with-"

"KNOCK IT OFF I'VE HEARD THIS STUPID MOTTO MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!" Screamed Misty as she and her sisters arrived in the stadium.

"You do NOT interrupt the motto!" Screamed Cassidy

"It's our trademark" Said Butch

"You two again!" Asked Daisy "Like we beat you last time can't you just leave us alone already?"

"You may have beaten us before but it won't happen this time!" Declared Butch as he drew a pokeball from his belt "Sableye get them!"

The darkness pokemon appeared and waved to the girls and their pokemon with an evil glint in its pale blue eyes. "Sableye eye?" ("Remember me?")

"Gyradose Dragon Breath!" Commanded Misty

"Dewgong like use Aurora Beam" Said Daisy

Cassidy quickly released her Alakazam and gave it orders "Disable those pokemon now!"

The attacks were stopped in their tracks and the two pokemon where unable to move.

"Go Kingdra!" Said Misty as she sent out another pokemon

Kingdra appeared in the pool ready for battle. Before Misty could give her pokemon any orders there was a shout from the other side of the stadium causing everyone except the Rockets to turn. "Hold it right there!"

Another group of Rockets all in black uniforms and shades came pouring into the stadium. There were about 30 of them and they each had at least two pokeballs each. The sisters knew when they were beaten so they had no choice but to recall their pokemon and surrender.

_In our top story tonight the members of the legendary Elite Four of the Kanto and Johto regions have been killed. At around 9:00 a.m. this morning the members where all in the office of Grand Master Lance Dracone when an explosion destroyed the office and killed all the occupants of the office including Master Dracone himself. It has also been confirmed that 30 additional casualties occurred during the explosions as well as dozens of severely injured. Investigators say that the explosion was caused due to a projected rocket of some sort. Any information on the whereabouts of the perpetrator or perpetrators who committed this vile act is greatly appreciated.'_

_In a related story the Indigo League Pokemon Gyms situated throughout the Kanto region where attacked today by Team Rocket. This was a massive assault which targeted all eight of the Gyms. It has been confirmed that only two Gyms remain standing in Veridian and Fuschia Cities, however, these buildings still sustained major structural damage. The other six Gyms are completely in ruins and the Whereabouts of the Gym Leaders in unknown, but due to the state of the Gyms they are presumed dead._

_It is unconfirmed but these two incidents may be related. We will keep you posted on any further developments. This is Joel Speedmon: Kanto Network News signing off._

A/N: Well that's done. R & R. Till next time, See ya!


	4. Aftermath

A/N:I will not be repeating the disclaimer I see no need since it obviously pertains to the whole fic. Just to be safe though I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. Also if anyone could tell me what symbols work good to separate scenes I would appreciate it. I've tried , and a combination of ! But nothing shows up on I just don't get it . Anyways on with the story.

Aftermath

"GYOOOOOOOORRRRRR!"

"Pikachu, LETS GET OUT OF HERE!" Yelled Ash as they ran down a steep slope of the mountain they were training on.

("I told you attacking that Onix was a bad idea, but NOOO you HAD to 'test your new training skills'" ) Said Pikachu as he ran beside his trainer.

("Run now talk later") Panted Croconaw whose water gun had been the thing to set off the large Onix's temper in the first place.

The trio continued running down the slope until the Onix decided to use a Screech attack which caused Ash and his pokemon to scream in pain and also caused Ash to misstep and go tumbling down the slope several feet before coming to a stop.

("Ash!") Yelled both pokemon.

Thinking quickly Ash grabbed a pokeball and released his Sceptile who had recently evolved from Grovyle.

"Sceptile Solarbeam!" Yelled Ash.

The jungle pokemon planted his feet firmly in the ground and arched his back toward the charging Onix. The bulbs on the pokemon's back began to glow a bright white and suddenly a large white beam was shot straight at Onix. The beam slammed into it and caused it to fall backwards giving Ash time to get up and recall Sceptile. He then continued running with Pikachu and Croconaw. The Onix however was not done and was soon chasing them once again.

("Ash you better think of something quick I don't think It's going to stop chasing us unless we knock it out.") Said Pikachu

"Your probably right better try and battle it." Said Ash uneasily. The Onix was not like a normal Onix it was HUGE. At least twice as big as Brock's Onix and it had a long horn coming out of his snout. "Croconaw hit it with Hydro Pump!"

The big jaw pokemon launched its most powerful water attack which did manage to cause the Onix some pain but It was far from over.

("Ash use Noctowl to put it to sleep!" Said Pikachu.

"Hey good idea" Agreed Ash as he threw Noctowl's pokeball "Hypnosis Noctowl!"

Noctowl flew before the Onix and it's eyes glowed purple and it began to coo in rhythm and slowly the Onix started to fall asleep.

("Ash that thing is strong if you recall Noctowl it will wake up and chase us again you better catch it.") Said Pikachu

"Yea you're right." Said Ash. He took a black and gold ball from his pocket and enlarged it. "Ultra Ball Go!"

The Ultra ball sailed through the air and struck the Onix on it's head. There was a red flash of energy and the Onix was transferred into the ball. It shook on the ground violently at first and it look like the ball wouldn't hold the massive serpent, but finally there was a resounding chime signaling a successful capture.

Ash went over and picked up the pokeball and stared at it for a second before reality hit him. "I caught an Onix!" He cheered as he did his victory pose while holding up the pokeball.

("And we almost died!") Said Croconaw

"Well if you want a make an omle-" Started Ash until he was silenced by a Thunder Shock

("Bastard!") Said Pikachu ("That is not funny. You can't keep making us do all the crazy training exercises. We have rights to you know!")

"I was just joking Pikachu," Said Ash disappointed that his celebration was cut short "Besides you wanted to come so you could test out your skills against some rock types in case I needed you for my rematch at Mosdeep Gym."

Ash had gone to Mosdeep shortly after he parted ways with May and Brock. Unfortunately the Gym Leaders used Psychic/Rock Pokemon and his whole team was decimated. After that he went back to the main Island of Hoenn and decided to train his pokemon harder then he had in the past. It seemed it was paying off as well. Pikachu had risen several levels in the past year and many of his pokemon had evolved. Cyndaquil was now a Quilava, Bayleef evolved into Maganium, and Totodile was now Croconaw.

Ash also had some luck in the capturing department. He now had a Shuppet, a Qwillfish, an Aron, and last but not least a Bagon. Now he was on his way back toward Mosdeep when he decided to take a shortcut through the mountains to reach a town with a dock so he could head toward the Gym. That's when he saw a slight bulge in the ground and thoughtit was a sleeping Geodude. Needless to say he had been wrong and landed himself and his pokemon in the situation they were in now

("You know Ash we really should get off this mountain it is getting kinda late.") Said Pikachu.

"Yea you're right." Agreed Ash "According to the Poke'Nav there's a Pokemon Center a files away from the coast, and from there it's only a short walk to Crescent Harbor."

So they left the mountain and headed toward their next destination.

_In our top story tonight the members of the legendary Elite Four of the Kanto and Johto regions have been killed. At around 9:00 a.m. this morning the members where all in the office of Grand Master Lance Dracone when an explosion destroyed the office and killed all the occupants of the office including Master Dracone himself. It has also been confirmed that 30 additional casualties occurred during the explosions as well as dozens of severely injured. Investigators say that the explosion was caused due to a projected rocket of some sort. Any information on the whereabouts of the perpetrator or perpetrators who committed this vile act is greatly appreciated.'_

_In a related story the Indigo League Pokemon Gyms situated throughout the Kanto region where attacked today by Team Rocket. This was a massive assault which targeted all eight of the Gyms. It has been confirmed that only two Gyms remain standing in Veridian and Fuschia Cities, however, these buildings still sustained major structural damage. The other six Gyms are completely in ruins and the Whereabouts of the Gym Leaders in unknown, but due to the state of the Gyms they are presumed dead._

_It is unconfirmed but these two incidents may be related. We will keep you posted on any further developments. This is Joel Speedmon: Kanto Network News signing off._

Ash couldn't believe what he heard upon entering the center. The whole Elite Four gone? All the Gyms he had battled in during his first year on his journey with Brock and Misty gone. _And all the Gym Leaders presumed dead… _He thought somberly _This just can't be happening. _

("You okay?") Asked Pikachu.

"No, No I'm not. I can't believe this is happening. I shoulda been there to help Misty and Brock. I should have been able to do something!"

("It's not your fault it's all Team Rocket!") Said Pikachu unwilling to let Ash blame himself for something he had no control over.

"I knew they had to be up to something. Jessie and James haven't bothered us in a long time." Said Ash "I just thought they had given up, but this. This is just terrible. I didn't think they were capable of something like that."

("You forget that there are other Team Rocket members besides Jessie and James.") Said Pikachu. ("Remember Cassidy, Butch, all the men on the S.S. Anne and that guy who tried to capture Mewtwo.")

"Yea your right." Muttered Ash "I better call Mom haven't done it in a while."

Ash walked over to the phone and dialed his home number. The line began ringing and it seemed as if no one was going to pick up when finally someone answered the phone. However it wasn't Dellia.

"GARY!" Gasped Ash. _What the hell is he doing at my house answering my phone! _"What are you doing answering my phone? Where's my Mom?"

"Calm down Ashey-Boy" Said Gary "Mrs. K's fine and I'm here with Gramps. I take it by the expression on your face you heard what's going on up here?"

"Yeah" Ash muttered "Is it really as bad as the news says it is?"

"It's worse" Said Gary dryly "They hit the lab too Ash"

"No way!" Said Ash "Are the pokemon okay? Are the professor and Tracey safe?"

"Gramps is okay, just a little shaken up." Said Gary "Tracey got hurt in the attack but he should be okay, but the pokemon…"

"What about them Gary?" Asked Ash worriedly "What happened to the Pokemon?'

"…The ones that they didn't steal got severely hurt or killed." Said Gary sadly "I lost half my pokemon Ash the ones at low levels and the babies of the others they're all stolen or killed. Thankfully the rest of mine managed to fight off most of the Rockets, but they still got away. The lab is totally destroyed and the majority of the habitat out back is ruined."

Ash was furious. It was one thing to steal pokemon but killing innocent pokemon barely out of the egg simply because they were weak was just sick. "I'm coming home" He said simply "The next Ferry bound for Kanto and I'll be in Pallet."

"Ash Ketchum you will do no such thing!" Said Dellia suddenly pushing Gary out of the way.

"What are you talking about mom you guys obviously need my help!" Yelled Ash

"You are not getting involved in this mess." Said Dellia sternly "Team Rocket already knows you and coming back here would put you in their sights. You're going to stay in Hoenn where it's safe!"

"NO!" Yelled Ash "I have to come back to find Misty and Brock!"

Dellia softened "I know how you feel Ash but there's nothing you can do. Besides all overseas transport has been suspended since the bombing on Indigo, and with the mess down in Cinnibar and all the other Gyms I don't know how long It'll be before you can get back."

"I'll find a way." Said Ash

"Ash no pleas just stay where you are and go to the Hoenn League championships like you wanted." Pleaded Dellia

"I can't make any promises mom." He said "I know you just want to protect me but I'm not a little kid anymore I'm 16. I'll keep traveling like I've been, but as soon as I find a way back to Kanto I'm coming home."

"Ash please no." said Dellia desperately

"Sorry mom but I have to." Said Ash "I love you and I'll be seeing you as soon as I can. See ya mom."

"Love you too Ash" She said sadly.

Ash ended the conversation and took his pokemon to the counter and checked in for the night. He was about to got to his room when a news bulletin caught his attention.

"_We are live outside Veridian City Gym. I'm Rick Parson here with the Viridian Gym Leader Giovoni Rokai. Said the Reporter "Mr. Rokai what can you tell us about the attack which happened earlier today?"_

"_I was in the middle of a battle when suddenly several members of Team Rocket came through one of the walls of the Gym." Said Giovoni "They told me that I should surrender or they'd destroy the pokemon in the Gym. I found this highly amusing since all my pokemon are far superior to those of Team Rocket. Myself and the trainers in the Gym under my tutelage managed to fend them off with our pokemon."_

"_If you were able to handle Team Rocket. Why do you think that the other Gym Leaders had so many problems?" Asked the Reporter_

"_After the destruction of my Gym by Team rocket four years ago I decided to update my security." Said Giovoni "I'd been telling the other Gym Leaders to do the same but only Kason of Fuschia took my suggestion. It is a shame that the other Gym Leaders had to learn the hard way about what a cruel world we live in today."_

"_What are your thoughts about the demise of the Elite Four?" Asked Rick "It was common knowledge that you had an ongoing feud with Lance Dracone."_

"_The Feud between Lance and myself was strictly professional." Said Giovoni "I had no personal grudges against him or any other member of the Elite Four. Loosing those great trainers is a major tragedy for not only Kanto but also the world." _

_Thank you for your time Mr. Rokai. This is Rick Parson Kanto National News signing off._

Ash wanted to vomit. How could that bastard sit there and act so calm and collected. He had undoubtedly been the mastermind of all the events. He stood there and played the part of the grieving colleague. He acted like he cared that the Elite Four and Lance were dead when he was behind their deaths. He had the nerve to criticize the other Gym Leaders for lack of security and basically said their pokemon where too weak to take out team rocket while he and some Gym Leader Ash had never heard of supposedly had better pokemon. All this served to fortify Ash's anger and give him a definite resolve.

He walked into his room and closed the door and turned to Pikachu who was sitting on the bed. "Pikachu when we get back to Kanto I'm going to kill that bastard." He said calmly.

Pikachu remained silent he had never seen that look in his trainers eyes before and he didn't know exactly what the look meant. What he did know however was that Ash was not joking in the least and whatever that look was it wasn't good.


	5. Espionage

Espionage

Being in Team Aqua was a lot different then being in Team Rocket. James was finding the changes hard to deal with even after being on the team for over a year. For one thing he had to use mostly water pokemon that where stolen from various places around Hoenn. His own pokemon Cacnea was frowned upon by the members of the team for being "A product of too much land" therefore he hardly ever used her. Then there was the uniform. After wearing his trademark Rocket uniform for so long he felt naked without it. Now he wore a blue and white striped shirt with a black vest and black pants. He also had a blue bandana tied around his head and his blue hair was now longer and grew past his shoulders. Not everything was bad for him though. He did manage to get out of the rank of grunt fairly quickly thanks to his experience in Team Rocket. Now he was "Field Commander Jim" according to Archie, the leader of the team. He was currently on a mission to Mt. Pyre south of Lillycove City to retrieve the Red Orb. He figured nothing should go wrong with this mission since he had completed all of his missions flawlessly since joining the team. This feeling of extreme confidence was one he hadn't felt in a long time. The last time his self esteem was this high was when he had started the mission to raid the pokemon center in Viridian years ago. This time though there was no twerp and no electric-rat, so nothing could go wrong.

Jessie was in a similar position to James. Although she was enjoying herself far more then he was. She could use her pokemon and was given a few more to add to her team including a Slugma which was now a Magcargo and a Numel. Seviper had grown quite a few levels and she was pretty sure she could give the twerp a real run for his money now. Her uniform had changed as well. She wore red pants and a red T shirt that showed her midriff and a black Jacket with the Magma "M" emblazoned on the back she still had her long red-pink hair that defied the laws of gravity and she wore solid black shades to cover her eyes. She had managed to get further up the ranks in Magma then James did in Aqua. She was an Admin. "Administrator Jessica" had a nice ring to it. She was currently leading a team up the opposite slope of Mt. Pyre in search of the Blue Orb.

They had been going up the mountain for about an hour when one of the agents called out to Jessie. "Ma'am, we've spotted another group moving up the mountain!" He reported. "Seems to be those Aqua bastards."

"Could you tell who the commander of the team was?" She asked. She was hoping it was the same officer that ruined her only failed mission to steal another meteorite from Meteor Falls. "It's not Tabitha is it?"

"No Ma'am. I've never seen this guy before but he doesn't look to tough." Said the agent "We can take care of them."

"I'll handle it you find the orb." Said Jessie

"Sir we've found a shrine near the top of the mountain where we believe the orb should be!" Reported an Aqua Grunt to James "What are your orders?"

"Get that orb and bring it to me." Commanded James.

The agent went off with the rest of the team to retrieve the Red Orb while James stood there contemplating. _The Boss said to contact him when we got close… _He thought _…but how do I know when we get close? _He was snapped out of his thoughts as someone called out to him.

"Freeze Aqua Scum!" Said a voice from behind James.

He turned around to see…"Jessie?"

"James?" Said Jessie

Then James remembered what they were supposed to be doing and put on a mock angry front. "What are you doing here! You better not be after the Red Orb It belongs to Aqua!"

"So that's what you're doing here." Said Jessie "Don't tell me you're the commander of the team?"

"What if I am?" Asked James angrily

"Well, you being you it's just…" Jessie couldn't contain her laughter anymore and started to burst into hysterics. "You couldn't command your way out of a wet paper bag" She said between gasps.

Normally when Jessie made these comments James would take them, but with his new found confidence he had also developed a _Slight _spine and after years of ridicule from Jessie he was sick of it! "I'll show you. You self-centered bitch of a hat!"

It was with that statement James signed his death warrant. Jessie went from hysterics to unbridled fury in less then a second. "HAG! I SHOW YOU HAG!" She screamed as she withdrew a pokeball "Seviper! GO!"

"Go Poliwhirl!" Said James throwing his pokeball.

The two combatants materialized from their balls and took their fighting stances.

"Seviper!" ("Kill!")

"Whirl" (Rage!)

Before they could be given any commands the battle was interrupted by shouts from both the teams returning to their commanders.

"Sir/Ma'am we have the Red/Blue Orb" The two agents said in unison before noticing each other "Team Aqua/Magma!"

Jessie was the first to see an opportunity so she took it. "Take the orb and fall back." She said as she recalled her pokemon "We're returning to base!"

"Don't think you can get away!" Said James "Polliwhirl-"

"Sir their already gone." Said one of the agents

"I'll make you pay for this Jessie!" Called James after his former teammate.

Jessie turned around and gave James the finger which added to his frustration.

Several hours later after returning from her mission on Pyre Jessie was walking outside the Magma headquarters on Mt. Chimney. She walked a few miles away from the base before taking out a small communicator with a video screen. She pushed a few buttons before speaking into it.

"Agent Jessie reporting sir." She said quietly

"What is it?" Said Giovoni a little less morbid then usual. His face on the screen even had the slightest bit of happiness in it. This unnerved Jessie since that never happened when she called.

"Sir, I believe we are getting close to our final preparations in awakening Groundon." She said.

"Excellent" Said the boss "James informs me of something similar in Aqua. I will be sending you a package to the pokemon center in Lavaridge. It will be under a fake name of course. You can pick it up in a few days."

"What is it sir?" Asked Jessie

"You'll know what to do with it when the time comes." Said Giovoni

Two Eevee pups where playing around a glade on an island off of Route 125. They where playing a game of tag and crashing through the tall grass and trees and generally making a lot of noise.

("You can't catch me nyah nyah!") Said the girl cub to her friend as she stuck her tongue out and turned around to wave her tail at her pursuer.

("huff…you…huff…get back here Dawn!") Said the boy cub as he huffed after her.

Dawn disappeared behind a particularly tall patch of grass and suddenly let out a loud scream. Ever trying to protect his friend the other pup crashed through the grass ready for battle. Upon reaching the other side he saw his friend looking terrified at something lying on the ground. It was light yellow in color and had a gold charm attached to its head. It looked like it had been through some rough times. Bruises and scratches adorned its hide as well ass a missing patch of fur here and there.

("What do you think it is Mune?") Asked Dawn

("Looks like some kind of cat.") Said Mune ("I think its dead")

("How do you know?") Said Dawn

("If it was alive it'd be breathing.") He said simply

("But how can you tell from so far away?") She asked

("Well…") He started

("Go see Mune.") She whined ("If its alive we might be able to help it.")

Grudgingly Mune went over to the fallen pokemon and put his paw near its mouth. There was a slight intake of air from the creature.. Mune jumped back frightened.

("So is it alive?") Asked Dawn

("I think so…") He said uneasily

("Let's get it to the water then.") Said Dawn ("We can get it something to drink and maybe it'll wake up")

("What happens if it wakes up?") Asked Mune ("It might attack us and then we could get hurt.")

("We won't get hurt.") She said as if there was no chance of that happening at all ("It looks really weak anyway so I don't think it has the energy to attack.")

They both got on either side of the unconscious pokemon and with their combined strength they managed to drag it toward the river.")

Black. Everything was black. That's all he could remember the last few days had been a blur. He had been on his own for months now. Finding food where he could. Getting help from other wild pokemon or the occasional friendly trainer. Recently he had gone about two days with no food at all. Then he had smelled something that seemed to be eatable. When he went to investigate he found a fallen Tellow. _It's Lunch time! _He had thought hungrily. Unfortunately for him when he went to his new found meal a pack a Poochyena found it too. The bite pokemon lived up to their name and went for him immediately. Being the experienced pokemon he was and desperately hungry he attempted to fight off all ten of the Poochyena. This resulted in him being scratched, bitten, tackled and even shadow balled several times. In spite of all this he managed to get away, but he didn't get far before he collapsed.

He was now vaguely aware of being dragged before being dropped. The next thing he noticed was voices. Pokemon voices…

("What now?") Said one

("This!") Said the other excitedly

He then heard a splash immediately followed by extremely cold water.

"MEOWTH!" He screamed as he suddenly jumped to his feet.

Looking around he saw that he was near a lake and he wasn't alone. There were two Eevee sitting on there haunches staring at him curiously. One looked normal but the other had a moon shaped mark on its forehead.

("Are you ok Mr.?") Asked the one with the mark on its head.

("You looked pretty beat up so we brought you here so you could rest for a bit.") Said the other

"Oh…my head") He said "This feels worst then blastin' off"

("I think his head hurts.") Said the one with the mark

("And whatever gave you that idea Mune?") Said the other sarcastically

("He said so.") Said Mune oblivious to the scathing look his companion gave him

"Who are yous two anyway" Asked the newly conscious pokemon

("I'm Dawn and that's Mune!") Said Dawn happily ("Who're you?")

"Names Meowth" Said Meowth "You guys know where I can find some food? I'm starving!"

("There are some Oran Berries over there.") Said Mune pointing to a clump of bushes near the shore of the lake.

The three got some berries and started eating. Meowth found out throughout the course of the day that the two Eevee were orphans and had met up about a year ago. They didn't know where they came from or who their parents were. They managed to live fairly safely in this glade because not too many trainers knew about it and there weren't too many predators. Meowth thought they were pretty lucky since he had been in similar circumstances before meeting Jessie and James. They told him that they where planning on leaving the glade soon because "it was just too boring"

"I don't know if dat's a good idea kids." Said Meowth "It's dangerous out dere"

("We can handle it!") They said together.

"I don't know kids dere are some real scary pokemon out dere." Said Meowth

("They can't be that bad") Said Dawn

("You can't expect us to stay in this boring glade forever.") Said Mune sadly

"I know how you feel kids but I still think it's a bad Idea." Said Meowth "You might get captured by a trainer!"

This thought did manage to shake there resolve, but Dawn being ever the adventurous type had an Idea. ("Mr. Meowth you know your way around right?")

"Well I umm…" Stuttered Meowth not liking where this was going

("Yea you can help us right?") Asked Mune pleadingly.

_I know I'm gonna regret dis. _Thought Meowth. "Fine I'll go wit yous to keep you outa trouble."

("Yay!") They cheered as they ran around Meowth.

"Now how are we gonna get off dis island?" Said Meowth to himself

("How did you get here Mr. Meowth?") Asked Dawn

"Ya'know kid I don't remember." Stated Meowth "Last thing I remember was running from some Poochyena."

("Great") Said Mune.

A/N: I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers. Foxxyjosh, Ri2 and thebenjamin. I really appreciate the interest in this story.


	6. Imprisoned

Imprisoned

How long had it been? A few days? A week? It was hard to tell. There were no windows in this place, no way to tell the time. The only reason that time was remotely measurable was because of the one meal that came every day and the occasional Rocket bringing water to the prisoners. All the Gym Leaders of Kanto aside from Giovoni and Kason along with anyone living or studying at their Gyms where imprisoned in a morbid facility in Mew knew where.

The prisoners where slowly having their wills broken little by little, bit by bit. They had to cooperate. If they didn't they each had something to loose. For some it was their families. Others their pokemon. And a few because they where brutally forced into submission.

Every few hours one of the prisoners would be taken away from their cell and brought into an arena. There they would be given their pokemon and forced to battle against someone who called himself "Boss Rocket." No one ever saw his face he was always concealed in the shadows on the other side of the battle field. The battles always had the same result as well. Boss Rocket would start off with a normal pokemon, Nidoking, Rhydon or some other ground type. Then if it was defeated he would take out a strange looking pokeball and release one of his legendary birds. Then he would force his pokemon to continue battling until it was knocked out, collapsed from shear exhaustion or in the case of Lugia until all the pokemon trainers in his possession were defeated.

To add to the torment of his "guests" He would assure them that if they managed to defeat all his pokemon they could go free. However since they were barely being fed and constantly being weakened it was unlikely any of them would win and even if they did he still wouldn't let them go.

And this was the life that Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, Erika, Sabrina, Blaine, and all the other captured trainers where now living.

It was just like any other day Brock had been given his "Breakfast" if you could call it that and then he was ushered to the arena for yet another training session. He walked into the large dusty arena and stood in the trainer's box. Across from him he was surprised when instead of the shadowy visage of Boss Rocket there stood a beautiful woman with blonde hair wearing a black Rocket uniform.

"This will be a one-on-one pokemon battle Mr. Slate" She said. "For my pokemon I choose Moltres."

The master ball was thrown and opened with a large flash of light to reveal the large fire-bird. Brock was handed his pokeballs and selected one to use. "Onix I choose you." He said in a monotone. He knew that even if Onix had the type advantage it was unlikely to win this battle.

"Come now Mr. Slate." Said the woman "It can't be that bad. I mean we haven't even killed one of your pokemon…" She smirked "…yet."

"Just make your move." Said Brock his voice dripping with venom at her threats to his pokemon.

"Now, now." She said wagging a finger at Brock. "Don't forget we could hurt one of your _many_ siblings if you don't watch that attitude of yours."

"Onix Skull Bash!" Yelled Brock

Onix tensed its shoulder muscles and headed full speed toward Moltres.

"Moltres fly into the air and dodge it."

Obeying the commands it had been given Moltres flew into the air high above Onix.

"Onix, Dragonbreath!" Yelled Brock

"Blow it back with a Whirlwind!"

Onix reared back and took aim for its attack. As the attack was released Moltres flapped its wings and began conjuring a massive spire of wind. Onix was struggling to stay upright and its own attack was blown back into it, but Moltres wasn't done yet.

"Use Steel Wing!" Said the woman

"Onix look out!" Yelled Brock

Moltres stretched both it's wings out wide and they began to glow a silvery white color. Onix was trying to shake off the paralysis that the Dragonbreath had inflicted upon it but it was no use. Moltres began to dive straight down right towards Onix's head.

Thinking quickly Brock yelled "Stop, I give up!" But the woman ignored his pleas and Moltres continued on it's course. Not wanting to see the outcome of the collision Brock quickly recalled Onix. Moltres came crashing into the arena floor making a large crater in the middle and several cracks along the sides. The attack shook the whole building causing Brock and the woman to stumble. Moltres pulled itself from the crater completely dazed.

"What the hell is wrong with you." Yelled Brock "If that attack had hit you would've killed Onix crazy bitch!"

The woman just laughed and recalled Moltres. "Another remark like that and it will be your family's heads instead of that rock serpent." She said simply

Brock was then ushered away from the arena and his pokeballs taken away.

Several hours later Misty found herself in an arena similar to the one Brock had been in. She was given her pokeballs and looked up to face her opponent. It was the same blonde woman that Brock had faced earlier.

"This match will be a three-on-one battle." She announced. "Pick three pokemon to use against my one." She then withdrew a pokeball and threw it to the field to reveal Zaptos.

_How the hell am I supposed to beat that thing. _Thought Misty. All of here pokemon where water types so she had a definite disadvantage to such a strong electric pokemon.

Seeing Misty's hesitation the woman decided to make the match a little more interesting. "Don't worry about the type difference I won't use any electric attacks." She said innocently "Promise."

Misty didn't believe her one bit, but she still threw out her first pokemon. "Misty chooses Gyradose!" She said with what little confidence she had. This was the fifth time she had been in a match and she had yet to win.

"Ice Beam Gyradose!"

"Dodge and use Aerial Ace!"

Gyradose launched its attack and managed to hit Zaptos. However Zaptos shrugged off the damage and rammed straight into Gyradose. Coming in contact with Zaptos caused additional damage thanks to Zaptos' natural electric field.

"Gyradose use Dragon Dance!" Ordered Misty

"Zaptos hit it with Drill Peck!" Ordered here opponent.

Gyradose began to sway from side to side growling before its eyes suddenly started to glow a bright blue and a blue aura surrounded it. Zaptos tried to run Gyradose through with its Drill Peck, but thanks to the increased speed given by Dragon Dance Gyradose avoided the attack.

"Zaptos finish it with Frustration!" Said the woman.

"Gyradose counter with Return!" Said Misty

Zaptos was surrounded by a black aura while Gyradose had a white one. They charged at each other and collided with a resounding crash. Zaptos was sent sailing through the air by the attack Gyradose was momentarily confused due to the collision so Misty recalled her pokemon.

"Good, Ms. Waterflower." Said the woman. "You managed to do some damage to Zaptos with your overgrown guppy."

"I'll show you a guppy!" Shouted Misty "Go Corsala!"

The little pink pokemon materialized and stared down Zaptos valiantly.

"Let's end this quick Zaptos." Said the woman. "Hyper Beam!"

"Mirror Coat!" Said Misty

The Hyper Beam slammed into the small coral pokemon and she absorbed the damage before firing it back where it came from at twice the force and speed! Zaptos was caught off guard by the return of its own attack and was struck hard by the powerful beam. Corsala was extremely winded by the attack as well so Misty recalled it and sent out her last pokemon.

"Starmie, Go!" Said Misty

A glittering purple starfish with ten arms and a large red jewel in its center appeared from its pokeball.

Seeing that Zaptos was on the verge of fainting Misty didn't hold back "Starmie, Psychic!"

"Zaptos, Endure!"

Starmie unleashed a devastating Psychic blast that slammed Zaptos into the arena ceiling and dropped it again hard onto the ground. Zaptos was barely standing after the attack but it was still able to fight.

"I've been being nice to you so far little girl but no longer!" Sneered the woman as she withdrew a vile from her pocket. "You'll regret the day you ever heard the name Domino!" She threw the vile at Zaptos and immediately it started to disperse over the injured pokemon. Within seconds Zaptos was back to full health.

"Hey that's not fair you have Full Restores." Said Misty "Starmie use Psychic again!"

"Not this time!" Said Domino "Zaptos shock that thing into oblivion!"

Before Starmie could unleash another Psychic it was hit with an extremely powerful Thunder attack. Starmie's jewel core began to fizzle out and soon it had lost its bright red glow. However Zaptos still didn't stop the attack and soon Starmie's screams of pain were silenced as well.

"STOP YOU'RE KILLING IT!" Cried Misty she tried to recall her pokemon but the beam just repelled off the massive amounts of electricity and still Zaptos didn't relinquish the starfish from its suffering. Soon the smell of burnt meat filled the arena and the attack finally stopped to reveal Starmie still standing blackened to a crisp.

"Starmie?" Misty said quietly

Suddenly the jewel in Starmie's core started to crack and in a spectacular display it exploded into thousands of shards. The blackened from of Starmie began to collapse and in it's place was a smoking pile of ash.

"STARMIE!" Screamed Misty in hysterics.

She couldn't believe it Starmie, her starter pokemon, had been with her since she was eight years old, was the most loyal pokemon she had. Now it was gone in one act of malice one of her best friends was gone and its murderer was standing right across the field from her. She was going to pay dearly for this.

"Ah well looks like your all out of pokemon." Said Domino amused at the situation.

"Not yet." Said Misty quietly as she took a pokeball and threw in on the field

Gyradose reappeared and noticed the pile of ashes and the pieces of jewel scattered around the field. He turned to his trainer to await new orders.

Misty didn't hesitate to give her next order. Although later she knew she might regret it. "Gyradose Rage!"

Gyradose's eyes took on a bright red glow and it let out a terrifying roar. Misty had now unleashed it to vent all of its anger that it had longed to release since it was captured. Gyradose being naturally violent and powerful pokemon were extremely dangerous when in a rage. It had been documented that a single Gyradose could destroy a city in ancient times and this Gyradose being very well trained intended to live up to that myth.

Gyradose lunged toward Zaptos his fangs bared for a Crunch attack. Not waiting for any orders Zaptos Launched a Thunder attack toward Gyradose but the atrocious pokemon nimbly dodged it and latched it's fangs onto Zaptos' left wing.

"Zaptos fry that thing with a Shock Wave!" Commanded Domino

Before Zaptos could react to the new orders Gyradose Launched and Ice Beam from its mouth without even letting go of Zaptos. This resulted in Zaptos' wing being frozen solid and Gyradose relinquishing his grip on the thunder-bird. Domino reached into her pocket for an ice heal and prepared to throw it when she noticed several large wind spires circling the field courtesy of Gyradose's Twister attack. Gyradose was in an unstoppable rampage. The grunts stationed around the arena made a run for it ignoring Domino's orders to remain where they were. Gyradose then began to launch Hyper Beams of incredible power around the arena causing serious structural damage. Domino recalled Zaptos and ran after the grunts. Leaving Misty alone with her rampaging pokemon.

Misty was still in shock over the Starmie's death and didn't notice one of the Hyper Beams piercing the ceiling and causing a massive surge of water to come pouring into the arena nor did she notice the security barriers coming down over the arena exits. She was trapped but all she could think about was Starmie. Gyradose continued launching attack after attack until he realized he had no opponent and that there was an incredible amount of water surging around it. Seeing Misty's distraught state Gyradose wrapped his trainer in his coils and held her above the water. The touch of her pokemon seemed to snap Misty out of her daze and she to noticed the dire situation she was in.

"Gyradose swim for it!" She cried just before the water reached the ceiling. Gyradose obeyed and swam toward the opening in the ceiling heading out into the depths of the Ocean.

A/N: Read and Review pleas. Thanks 


	7. Rematches and ReMeetings

Rematches and Re-meetings

Ash was lost in thought as he strolled down the beach a few miles away from Crescent Town. He had left Pikachu and his other pokemon with Nurse Joy to make sure they where in top shape for his rematch at the Mosdeep Gym. At the moment however, his mind was on anything but Gym battles. In spite of everything his mother had told him about not being able to get a boat back to Kanto he had tried anyway, and to his utter disappointment Dellia had been telling the truth. He had found out the Kanto was now under marshal law. The ruling government had 'mysteriously' ceased action and all high ranking government officials had either left the region or resigned from their positions. Ash couldn't figure out what would make the entire ruling body of a country leave during a time of crisis. What could possibly be so terrible?

As he continued walking down the beach he noticed a bunch of Murkrow a little ways away huddled around something on the ground. _Something must have died. _He thought as he watched the Murkrow peck at the carcass. Suddenly one of them was sent flying away and landed a few feet in front of Ash. In the gap left by the Murkrow Ash saw a bit of silver and noticed that the 'carcass' was moving. Without a second thought Ash ran toward the horde of birds startling them and sending the mass of them flying into the air. Now that Ash could see what they had been pecking at he was utterly shocked. On the sand lay the silver and blue form of a Lugia. It wasn't as big as the Lugia in the Orange Islands but it was a Lugia all the same.

Ash knelt down and checked to see if it was breathing. It was but only barely. "Don't worry I'll help you out." Said Ash he reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the few Hyper Potions he had "You're gonna have to swallow this. I'll poor it in a little bit at a time." He said trying to comfort the fallen avian. He gently pulled the birds mouth open and poured a few drops of the potion onto its tongue. He then closed the bird's mouth and pushed its head back so it was forced to swallow the liquid. After repeating this process a few times the Lugia opened its eyes and took in its surroundings.

In the months since he had lost his mother and father the little Lugia had been struggling to survive. He knew how to hunt a bit and managed to survive off of small fish like Remoraid and Feebas or if he was desperate enough a bony Magikarp. It had been on one of those desperate occasions when he was swimming looking for some kind of food when he saw a lone Carvahna. Being unfamiliar with this particular fish he thought he could take it on and win himself a nice meal. Unfortunately for him Carvahna hardly ever travel alone and within seconds of his initial attack a swarm of the savage pokemon where attacking him. He attempted to blast them away with a Confusion attack, but thanks to their dark nature the attack was useless. Another unfortunate occurrence was that because of the blood in the water from the various bites the beasts had inflicted upon him a pack of Sharpedo appeared on the seen. Thinking quickly the small Lugia swam toward the surface. After getting out of the water it managed to get into the air and started to fly at a low altitude over the water. Again it seemed that luck was against him because a hungry Pelipper decided to attack him. After deflecting the greed bird with a blast of Confusion he began to glide in the air where he eventually passed out and landed on the beach where the Murkrow found him. After a few pecks from the darkness pokemon he regained consciousness and started to struggle against them. That's when the human that was now stroking his head had come and saved him. This human looked familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen him before.

_The potion helped but it's my last one and it didn't help all that much. _Thought Ash contemplating the situation. _He needs to get to a pokemon center but he's a little too big for me to carry there in a hurry. I wonder if he'll let me put him in a pokeball. _"Hey I need to take you away from here before those birds circling us up there figure out I don't have any other pokemon with me and attack us again." Said Ash "I'm gonna have to do something you probably won't like but I promise I'll release you when we get to where you need to be."

Lugia didn't like the sound of that but he was too weak to protest. He felt something hard hit him on the back then there was a red flash of light. After that it felt like he was in a warm enclosure with a limited amount of space. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't the coziest of places either. His energy all but depleted he decided to sleep.

Ash picked up the pokeball and headed back to the pokemon center. The Murkrow who had been observing the situation, and hoping the meddlesome human would go away, were not happy about loosing dinner and decided to attack Ash for disturbing their 'hard earned' meal. Ash began running as soon as he heard the first "KROW!" interpreting it to mean something along the lines of ("KILL!").

As he ran he couldn't help but draw a few parallels between what he was doing now and what he had done his first day of his pokemon journey. He just hoped that this time would end a little better then the last. The Murkrow began to use Faint Attack hitting Ash on his sides and back causing him to stumble. In spite of the pain he still ran fueled by adrenaline and the need to save a dieing pokemon. He was now in site of the town and knew he could make it if he had something to distract the birds. Unfortunately he had nothing so the birds kept hitting him full force. Then he got an idea. He reached in his pocket and withdrew a miniaturized pokeball. He wasn't intending to catch one of the birds but he figured if he tossed it they'd scatter for fear of being captured. He enlarged the ball and threw it toward to mass of birds. They immediately scattered and one of them was actually hit with the ball. Ash didn't stick around to see what happened he simply kept running and managed to make it to the pokemon center.

He stumbled threw the door panting heavily and bleeding from several wounds inflicted by the Murkrow. Nurse Joy immediately ran up to him with concern written all over her face. "Are you alright?" She asked "What happened to you?"

"I'm fine" He lied "He needs your help more then I do." He handed her Lugia's pokeball. "Don't let anyone see what's inside there."

"Okay…" Said Joy confused. "I don't know why you'd be concerned about that but if that's what you want…"

"It is, and thanks" Said Ash "Just make sure he's okay."

"I will don't worry." She assured him "Now you look like you've been through hell. I think you should get some rest and put some antiseptic on those cuts."

"I'll take care of it." Said Ash "Are my other pokemon alright?"

"Their all fine and your Pikachu should be in your room." She told him "I'll take care of this one for you and let you know how he is in the morning."

"Alright then I guess this is good night." Said Ash

"Good night Mr. Ketchum." She said

…

The next morning Ash awoke to find that he had overslept. As a result he'd missed the morning ferry headed to Mosdeep. He wasn't too concerned after all he was only going to the Gym to make sure he got in some good training. Competing in the Hoenn League just didn't seem too important anymore.

He went to the Reception desk to check with Nurse Joy on Lugia's condition. When he got to the desk Joy immediately grabbed him by his shirt collar and dragged him to the back of the center.

"How did you get that pokemon?" She asked as soon as they were out of the main lobby. "And how did it get in that condition!"

"Well I found him on the beach and he was surrounded by some Murkrow and-"Began Ash "That's not important. How is he?"

"He was in critical condition when you brought him here." She said "The good news is we managed to stabilize him. The bad news is we weren't able to properly treat injuries that severe here."

"So what does that mean!" Asked Ash incredulously "Is he going to be okay or what?"

"Calm down Mr. Ketchum!" Said the nurse 'I understand your concern, but there's no need to worry. We transferred him to Mosdeep City. They were the closest with enough equipment to handle a pokemon that size and that injured."

"You did tell them to be discreet about him didn't you?" Asked Ash

"Of course." Said Joy "Although it's not every day you get to treat a legendary pokemon. And a baby at that." She mused

"Yeah, I guess so." Said Ash

"Oh yes and one more thing Mr. Ketchum." Said Joy "Someone found this outside of town and when I scanned it I found it was registered to you."

She handed Ash a pokeball "huh?" He said taking the pokeball "I don't remember dropping any pokeballs."

"Well that pokemon has you listed as its original trainer so it belongs to you." Said Joy "Now if you'll excuse me Mr. Ketchum I have patients to attend to."

Ash was ushered out of the back room by a Chansy and he returned to his room. He took the pokeball and released the pokemon inside to reveal the black feathered form of a Murkrow! "What?" stuttered Ash

"Krow? Murkrow?" ("Huh? Where am I?")

("When'd you catch that?") Asked Pikachu bounding into the room.

"Last night I guess." Said Ash

"Krow krow Mur Murkrow." ("You're that guy who stole our lunch.") Said the bird

"What's it saying Pikachu?" Asked Ash

("He said you stole their food yesterday or something.") Said the mouse.

"He was still alive you shouldn't have been trying to kill him!" Yelled Ash

"Murkrow! Krow mur krowkrow" ("Fool! We where hungry.")

Pikachu again translated for Ash "That doesn't excuse trying to kill him!"

("Ash go sit over there or something let me handle this.") Said Pikachu

"Whatever." Said Ash as he picked up his Pokedex and started sorting through his party for the day.

("Why do you hang around with this stupid human?") The bird asked Pikachu

("Ash isn't stupid he just cares about pokemon a lot.") Said Pikachu

("Well if he cares about us so much what's the harm in letting us do what comes natural?") Asked Murkrow

("He's just mad because that Lugia you were attacking wasn't dead and you were going to kill it.") Said Pikachu ("Then after he tried to help it you chases him. At least that's what he told me last night.")

("So that was a Lugia?") Asked the Murkrow ("We didn't know what it was but it looked tasty.")

("Yeah well next time tell your buddies not to attack something that isn't dead.") Said Pikachu. ("Since you're too chicken to hunt for your food.") He added

("Hey!") Said the Murkrow insulted. Then he remembered the first part of what the mouse said ("What do you mean next time? I'm captured so I won't see my flock again unless your trainer takes me there.")

("If you wanted to be released Ash would let you go.") Said Pikachu

("Yeah right.") Said Murkrow ("Keep telling yourself that.

By this time Ash had walked back over. He knew what Pikachu was saying and was starting to gather the gist of what Murkrow said from his tone. "It's true, if you wanted to go back you could." Said Ash. "I don't force anyone to stay with me unless they want to."

("What about Onix?") Said Pikachu with a slight laugh

"That's different." Said Ash "The minute I let him go he'd try to kill us again. If he'd just listen to me for a few minutes instead of trying to crush me I'd explain things to him and apologize for making Croconaw hit him with the Water Gun."

("Yeah well I don't want to go back to the flock.") Said the Murkrow.

("You don't?") Asked Pikachu

("Are you kidding? Those guys were ass holes.") Said the bird ("They always beat me up when we went to eat and I had to be left with the scraps and bone or whatever they decided to leave. That's why I couldn't fight off that pokeball last night because I was too weak from lack of food. Being with this guy can't be that bad.")

Seeing Ash's puzzled look Pikachu answered his silent question. ("Basically he said you can't be worse then his flock so he doesn't want to be let go." Said the mouse

"Fine then welcome to the team Murkrow!" Said Ash. He was happy to get a new Dark-type just before his match at Mosdeep.

…

A lone Wailord swam north of Mosdeep City. It swam as close to the cliffs as it could before releasing a powerful Water Spout attack and sending three small figures toward the top of the cliff. They landed with a thud at the top in a small dog pile. At the bottom was Meowth his two Eevee companions on top of him.

("That was fun!") Said Mune

("Can we do it again?") Said Dawn

"Meowth, My head"

("Thanks for telling me where those Barboach were hiding Meowth.") Said the Wailord

"Yeah no problem pal!" Meowth called back as the Wailord swam away. _Sucker he'll probably run into a pod of Sharpedo. _

("Thank you Mr. Wailord!") Called Dawn and Mune

("What now Meowth?") Asked Dawn

"We find some food!" Declared Meowth

…

Ash arrived in Mosdeep City a few hours later via Ferry. He immediately made his way to the pokemon center to check on the injured Lugia. Once at the reception counter he was greeted by yet another Nurse Joy. _Just how many of them are there?" _He wondered to himself.

"Hello, and welcome to the Mosdeep pokemon center." Said Joy cheerfully "Do your pokemon need healing?"

"No" Stated Ash "My name is Ash Ketchum I had a pokemon sent here last night."

"You mean the-" She began loudly

"Keep it down." Hissed Ash "Yes I mean the Lugia"

"Sorry" Said Joy weakly "Right this way."

Ash followed her to the back and he found the Lugia on a stretcher with various tubes hooked to different parts of his body and an oxygen mask over its face.

"The patient was barely above critical condition when we received it last night." Said Joy now all business "We used several Max Potions before we realized that he was poisoned. We then used some Antidotes, however, the poison had already damaged some of the internal organs. It will take at least a few days for the anti-corrosive agents to finish up their job. The tubes are keeping him hydrated and pumping him full of Antibiotics. We also had to give him a blood transfusion from a Ditto."

"Wow he was worse then I thought." Said Ash quietly. He was amazed that the bird had managed to survive after all that. Then again he was a legendary pokemon and they were hard to kill. "Is he awake?"

"Not sure." Said the nurse "He opened his eyes a few times earlier this morning but he doesn't respond to anything I say."

"Can me and Pikachu go talk to him?"

"He really needs his rest." Said Joy. She looked at Ash's pleading eyes and caved in "But I suppose you can. Make it quick."

Ash and Pikachu walked into the room where the Lugia was resting. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and scurried over to the bed and climbed up to the Lugia's head.

("How you feeling buddy?") Asked Pikachu

The bird didn't respond at first but then opened his eyes and looked at Ash. He felt a little better then he looked and managed to send a weak telepathic message to Ash. _"You." _He said _"You're the one my father told me to find." _

"Your father?" Asked Ash

"_Yes, he was captured by a man" _Said Lugia _"He got dad, killed mom and got the other three too."_

"Who?" Asked Ash "Who got them?"

An image flashed through Ash's mind. Several pokemon on an Island fighting Zapdos. Another of a man in black fatigues with a red 'R' on the front standing on a boat. Two Lugias fighting several flying and water pokemon. Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres firing three Hyper beams at the female Lugia killing her in front of her son. A Master Ball striking the Adult Male and capturing him. The smiling face of Giovoni brimming with triumph.

"NO!" Ash yelled "It can't be. He can't have done that." He was shocked. He knew the situation was bad before but now…

"_He did." _He said _"Before dad was caught he told me to find the chosen one. I didn't know who he meant at first, but after meeting you somehow I just know he meant you."_

"Well Lugia I don't know what your father wanted me to do, but I will try my best to stop him." Said Ash "You need your rest. I'll be back and check on you later. Pikachu stay here and keep an eye on him for me, okay?"

("But don't you need me to go to the Gym with you?") Asked the mouse

"In all honesty buddy, you won't do much good there." Said Ash honestly "They use Lunatone and Solarock. Their rock/psychic types. The only moves you have that might damage them are Iron Tail and Focus Punch. And Focus Punch won't do much good because their psychic."

("You're probably right." Pikachu said grudgingly ("But when we get to Sootopolis I want action.")

"Sure bud." Said Ash.

…

The warm sea breeze was pleasing to Ash as he walked toward the giant stone doors of Mosdeep City Gym. The doors where adorned with the Symbol of a Heart with a small circle in the middle. On either side of the door where the carvings of a Sun and a Moon. Ash walked up to the doors and they opened automatically.

"_Welcome back Ashton Ketchum." _Two voices said in his head

_I hate telepathy _Thought Ash _It really freaks me out. And do both of them have to do it at the same time?_

"_We know you do, We know it does, and yes we do." _They said in his head

"Don't do that!" He yelled as he entered the main hallway.

He made his way down the ornately decorated corridor and into the battle Arena. The Arena was a very interesting one. Various platforms floated in the air above a flat marble surface. The ceiling was decorated to look like the night sky and craters where painted on the white marble to give it a lunarscape look.

"Welcome to Mosdeep City Gym." Said two figures in Unison

"I am Liza" Said a girl with black hair that went to her shoulders.

"I am Tate" Said a boy who looked just like the girl only with less feminine aspects and short black hair

"I am Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Declared Ash "I challenge you to an official Gym Battle!"

"As the Gym Leaders we must accept all challenges." They said simultaneously again. "This will be a Two-on-Two double battle."

"Lunatone." Said Liza

Solarock." Said Tate

The sun and moon pokemon appeared on the field and floated in front of their masters.

Ash quickly went through his options. The best choice he had was Crawdaunt. His Corphish had finally decided to evolve a few weeks ago. He had quite a few pokemon that had advantages over rock types and one other that could be strong against psychics. Seeing the impatient look on the leaders' faces he made his choices

"Crawdaunt, Murkrow I choose you!"

The two pokemon appeared on the field side by side. Crawdaunt, ever ready for battle, started beating his pincers onto his chest. Murkrow on the other hand decided this was an ample opportunity to stretch his wings.

("You guys don't look so tough!") Declared Crawdaunt.

("Man that ball is cramped!") Said Murkrow oblivious to the situation he was now in.

"Begin" The leaders said together. Their pokemon immediately went into battle. Lunatone sent an ice beam at Murkrow and Solarock used Rock Tomb to try and trap Crawdaunt.

"Hey you didn't even give them any commands!" Said Ash

"We trust our pokemon." Said Liza "They don't need us to tell them what to do." Finished Tate

"Crawdaunt Crabhammer that Solarock, Murkrow Steel Wing!"

Crawdaunt charged toward the sun pokemon readying a vicious assault with his pincers. Unfortunately for him a wall of rock materialized in front of him. He was moving so fast that he couldn't stop in time and ran into the wall full force. Meanwhile Murkrow had been dodging Ice beams and was getting sick of it. Instead of using a Steel Wing like the stupid human had told him he used a Faint attack and slammed into Lunatone hard.

Ash was shocked. He hadn't expected his orders to be totally ignored, but he was happy Murkrow had scored a hit. _Why do I always get the weird pokemon?" _He asked himself. "Murkrow keep pounding it with Faint attack! Crawdaunt use Bubble Beam on both of them!"

Before Ash could finish giving his orders the two space rock pokemon had begun counter measures They both put up protect to stop any damage from whatever was coming at them. Ash noticed that there was a slight aura around the two Gym Leaders that matched that of their pokemon. Ash wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but he knew something was up. _Their probably sending them commands the telepathy, and reading my mind before I can give the commands. _"Guys I trust you just do whatever you can to beat them!"

("It's clobbering time!") Yelled Crawdaunt

("So I guess I'll just keep doing what I've already was doing.") Said Murkrow.

…

Pikachu was enjoying some top quality pokemon food at the pokemon center courtesy of Nurse Joy. He was just about to dig in when he remembered something very important. Pikachu ran into the Kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Grade A Gourmet Ketchup. When he carried the bottle back to the place where he was eating he noticed that his food was missing. There was a set of dirty foot prints leading out of the pokemon center. Thinking that Lugia would be fine by himself for a little while Pikachu fallowed the foot prints out of the door.

…

("Wow Mr. Meowth this stuff is good") Said Mune as he ate the bowl of pokemon food with his friends.

("Why aren't you eating any?") Asked Dawn

Meowth was on edge because he just noticed the set of foot prints leading to his position. He also noticed a very angry looking rodent with a large bottle of Ketchup heading their way.

"Kids on my signal get ready to run." Said Meowth quietly. He waited a moment for them to respond and when they didn't he turned around. "Kids?"

Both Eevee were curled up next to each other sleeping after eating half the bowl of food.

"You gotta be kidding me" Muttered Meowth.

Just then Pikachu arrived and took in the scene. There were two Eevee obviously not very old by the looks of them. A half eaten bowl of pokemon food. And…

("Meowth?") Gasped Pikachu

It had been over a year since Team Rocket had stopped trying to capture him on at least a weekly basis so it was understandable for Pikachu to be just a little surprised to see him here of all places without Jessie and James. ("What are you doing here? More importantly, why'd you take my food?")

"Hey dere Pika-Pal." Said Meowth nervously "Uh…You see…Um"

("You better not be trying some stupidly complicated and overly elaborate scheme to once again try and capture me only to have me have to send you blasting off with a Thunderbolt.") Said Pikachu ("Because I am seriously not in the mood today!")

"Don't worry I was fired-" Started Meowth "I mean I quit Team Rocket!"

("yeah right.") Said Pikachu ("You've tried that one before and I aint falling for it.")

("Who's your friend Mr. Meowth?") Asked Dawn yawning.

"Kid I told you to quit with the 'Mr.' stuff!" Said Meowth exasperated "Dis here's my pal Pikachu. Right buddy?"

("No") Said Pikachu ("I don't know what he told you kids but he's no friend of mine.")

"What?" Yelled Meowth "You mean after all we been through you can't at least consider me a friend?"

("You put me through most of the stuff I went through!") Hissed Pikachu cheeks sparking.

("Meowth I'm scared.") Said Mune who had woken up after Meowth had yelled. ("He doesn't look too friendly.")

Pikachu immediately stopped his sparking and attempted to put on a friendly smile. He wasn't trying to scare the kids, but Meowth had pissed him off. ("Sorry kids I just wanted my food back that Meowth here _Stole_ without asking!")

The two Eevee looked at Meowth questioningly waiting for him to deny the accusation.

"You said you were hungry so I got you some food." Said Meowth simply

("We didn't think you'd steal it.") Said Mune sadly

("We wouldn't have taken it if we knew you did that.") Said Dawn

The two Eevee ran off looking very sad.

"Now look what ya did ya stupid rat!" Yelled Meowth. He was rewarded with a strong Thunder Shock "We gotta find dem before dey get into trouble!"

("Why should I help you?") Asked Pikachu

"Because if you don't you'll never see dis again!" Said Meowth picking up the Ketchup bottle. He then took out a claw and held it to the bottle. "One wrong move and the bottle gets it."

("Ok, Ok, No need to do anything hasty.") Said Pikachu ("I was just kidding I'll help you find the kids.")

…

Lunatone dodged another Bubble Beam attack fired by Crawdaunt but was unable to dodge the Shadow Ball fired by Murkrow. Solarock sent a Rock Slide at the bird by using its psychic powers to levitate part of the floor. Murkrow flew low to dodge the attacks but was unprepared for the Rock Tomb set up by Lunatone when it got down. The bird found itself trapped. Meanwhile Crawdaunt had snuck behind Solarock and grabbed it with a Vice Grip. He then proceeded to slam it over and over again until he was hit with a Blizzard attack and frozen solid.

"Crawdaunt, Murkrow!" Yelled Ash.

"Looks like you loose again Ash" Said the twins. "We recommend a little more training before you challenge us again."

"I'm not done yet!" Yelled Ash. "Murkrow break out of that tomb with Shadow Ball. Crawdaunt Hidden Power!'

Inside the Rock Tomb Murkrow decided to obey Ash, just this one time, and powered up a Shadow Ball. Inside the Ice Block Crawdaunt's eyes started to glow purple and the Ice started to crack. In a two massive bursts of energy the two prisons exploded and their captives charging back into the fight. Murkrow had decided to just let the Shadow ball grow until it was big enough to break the Rock Tomb and Launched it straight toward Lunatone. Meanwhile Crawdaunt now invigorated by using Hidden Power. Launched a Bubble Beam from both Claws aiming at both pokemon. Lunatone was desperately trying to think of which attack to dodge when the voice of Liza in his mind told him to use Light Screen. Before he could get the screen up he was hit by a Faint Attack from Murkrow. The bird quickly dodged the oncoming Shadow Ball and Lunatone was hit hard. The moon pokemon collapsed unable to continue the match after such a vicious hit. Solarock was faring far better then its partner and was busy battling Crawdaunt's bubbles with Flamethrowers. Murkrow decided he had done enough for the battle and lay down on one of the floating platforms and used Rest.

Ash was suddenly reminded of a painful memory during the Indigo Plateau when Charizard had done the same thing costing him the match with Richie. "Murkrow this is not the time to sleep!"

("Bite me ass hole I'm tired") Said the bird

Ash had no Idea what exactly he had said but didn't like the tone of it. Seeing the Murkrow was not going to battle anymore Ash returned him to his pokeball and concentrated back on the match.

Solarock was dodging everything Crawdaunt threw at it. The lobster was steadily growing fatigued and new he had to try something fast. Thinking quickly he ran toward Solarock his claws glowing white. Thinking the lobster was using Crabhammer the sun pokemon put up a reflect. Unfortunately Crawdaunt had been using Brick Break and the Reflect was obliterated. Crawdaunt grabbed Solarock by one of the spicks and began hammering him with a Crabhammer from the other pincer. Solarock refused to submit and used Cosmic Power to strengthen his Attack and Defense. Crawdaunt now very frustrated used his free pincer to shoot a bubble beam at point blank range while tightening the other pincer in a brutal Crunch attack. The combination of Dark and Water type attacks proved too much for the Sun Rock and he joined his partner in the peaceful state of unconsciousness.

"I don't believe it" Said Tate

"He won." Said Liza

"I won?" Said Ash then he realized what it meant "Yeah I won!"

A purple badge in the shape of a heart with a black and white yin-yang symbol in the middle floated to Ash's hand.

"You have earned the Heart Badge" Said Liza

"This proves that you have passed the challenges of Mosdeep Gym " Continued Tate

"Well fought" They said together.

…

("Mune I think we should go back.") Said Dawn

("You're probably right.") Said Mune ("He said he did it because we where hungry. We didn't tell ask him _not _to steal the food.")

("Yeah I think that Pikachu was just mad because it was his food we got.") Said Dawn

The duo had gotten pretty far away from the populated part of the island. They were now in a forest not to far away from a cave. In the cave dwelled a very temperamental and hungry Aggron. Seeing that the Eevee would probably be an easy lunch the beast decided to go in for the kill.

("I wonder how we get back to town.") Said Mune

("You mean you weren't paying attention?")

("I thought you were!") He retorted

This continued for some time until they realized they were suddenly in the shade. They looked up and locked eyes with a the fearsome Aggron. The beast licked his lips and let out a loud roar.

("RUN!") Mune yelled.

They began to run but the Aggron let loose a Metal Sound attack that caused them to collapse and hold their ears in pain. The Aggron reared back and prepared to slash the two Eevee. They closed their eyes and waited for the pain of their flesh being ripped by a Metal Claw.

What they didn't expect was a loud screeching sound like nails on a chalkboard. Meowth had found them just in time to start scratching the Aggron with Fury Swipes. Unfortunately for Meowth his attacks were little more then a tickle to Aggron. They did succeed in drawing his attention away from is in-prompt-to snacks. Mune and Dawn took the opportunity to hide and watched as Meowth bravely tried to take down a creature almost ten times his size. The sound of Meowth's claws scraping against the metal of Agrron's back was more annoying to the metal armor pokemon than the scratches themselves. He reached onto his back and grabbed the cat by his tail. He then proceeded to use Meowth like a yo-yo and twirled him around by his tail. Suddenly the Aggron felt a searing pain in his left shin. He looked down to see a little yellow mouse with pointed ears and brown stripes on its back. The mouse had hit his leg with an extremely hard Focus Punch. The Aggron, now extremely pissed off, aimed a kick at Pikachu. The mouse used his Agility to dodge it then let loose a Thunderbolt aiming right at Aggron's horns. The battle was now on.

Aggron shook himself after the powerful electric attack. He glared at Pikachu wondering how this little pipsqueak could dare to interrupt his hunting. Pikachu glared right back wondering what the hell he was thinking trying to take on something that big. Aggron charged Pikachu again with a powerful Take Down. Again the mouse was ready and used Double Team to confuse Aggron. Then he combined his Quick Attack with his Iron Tail to perform an Iron Quick Attack which slammed into Aggron from behind. Aggron prepared to let loose another Metal Sound when he felt something land on his head. He saw the brown bob of Meowth's tail between his eyes. Now very angry he aimed his fist right at his head putting all the force he could muster into the punch. Meowth jumped off of Aggron's head just before the fist made contact. There was a resounding ding noise and the Aggron began to sway on his feet. Pikachu let loose a Thunder attack for good measure and the Aggron finally fainted.

Meowth sank to the ground panting. "I thought I was a goner." He panted "Thanks Pikachu.")

("Whatever.") Said Pikachu ("Hand over the goods.")

"Uh…" Stuttered Meowth. "If you mean the ketchup I think I may have…"

("Don't tell me you lost it!") Exclaimed Pikachu. ("Do you know how long it's been since I had some of that quality sauce?")

The Eevee ran out and ran around the two arguing pokemon happily. ("Thank you Mr. Pikachu!")

("Just Pikachu.") Said Pikachu ("I need to get back to the pokemon center before Ash gets back from his Gym battle.") He hesitated then continued ("You guys can come I'll try to convince the Joy there that you're Ash's pokemon.")

"I don't want to be thought of as anybody's pokemon let alone that twerps." Said Meowth angrily.

("What's a twerp?") Asked Dawn

("I think it's some kind of compliment for a human.") Said Mune.

("Not quite.") Said Pikachu. ("You don't have to come Meowth, but I'd hate to be out here in the woods when _he_ wakes up." Continued Pikachu while pointing to the fallen Aggron.

"Good point." Said Meowth "Can't be that bad. At least we get free food."

…

Ash was ready to relax for the rest of the day and think through a lot of things that were on his mind. What he was not ready to do was come into his room in the pokemon center and find two Eevee a Meowth and Pikachu running around and making a big mess of the place.

"What the hell?" He asked.

Just then Nurse Joy came behind him a viewed the carnage that had once been Ash's room. "Mr. Ketchum!" She yelled startling Ash. "I can respect your wishes to keep some of your pokemon out of their pokeballs, but this behavior is unacceptable."

She continued scolding a very confused Ash for the next twenty so minutes. He was made to promise to restore the room to its former state before he left and finally Joy left him to deal with his pokemon.

"Hey dere twerp!" Said Meowth

("I still don't know what a twerp is.") Said Dawn

("Nice hat.") Said Mune

("Sorry about the mess Pikapi") Said Pikachu. ("The kids here got a little carried away.")

"You better start explaining Pikachu." Said Ash

…

An hour or so later Ash sat in the now clean room talking to Pikachu and Meowth while the Eevee pups slept. Meowth told Ash how Jessie and James abandoned him after they got their new mission. He explained how he met the Eevee and how he ended up in Mosdeep. Much to Ash's disappointment, he found that Meowth didn't know anything about Giovoni's Kanto take over. Meowth said he sympathized with Ash but he had no idea how he could get back to Kanto.

It was decided that Meowth and the kids would stay with Ash since Ash was pretty uncertain about Meowth's ability to find food for all three of them. Reluctantly Meowth agreed.

…

The next morning Lugia was almost fully recovered. His wounds had healed and he was now able to stay awake for more then ten minutes at a time. He told Ash his name was Silver and that he wanted to leave with him when he left the center. Ash happily agreed since he always wanted a chance to train a legendary pokemon. After Lugia's recovery the group boarded a ferry and headed For Sootopolis City.

…

A/N: Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I will have the next one up as soon as possible. Maybe even today. I haven't gotten any flames yet so I will take that as a good thing. In the event that you feel the need to flame please be constructive. Don't say "The story Sux" Tell me why. I can't fix the suckiness of it if I don't know why.

Till next time! Bye.


	8. Reaching between the Lines

Reaching Between the Lines

Gary Oak stared at the charred remains of his grandfather's once glorious research facility. It had been almost a month since it had been destroyed by Team Rocket, he couldn't help but blame the destruction partially on himself. _If only I had been here. If only I hadn't quit being a trainer. If only… _He cut his thoughts off. _No! I can't blame myself. Team Rocket did this and I think I know who's behind Team Rocket. Now I just need proof. _

…

It was a good day indeed for the leader of Team Rocket. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. For years he'd been waiting for this opportunity and now it was here. The government officials had been 'persuaded' to take permanent vacations somewhere far away from the Kanto region. Since he and the other Gym Leaders had seats on the national council he had a great understanding for the workings of the government. Most of the other leaders in the region preferred staying out of politics, but not him. He always found it most beneficial for his 'business' to have a hand in any decision making regarding laws and other related matters. Now with the Prime Minister 'missing' and the region under a state of marshal law, it was left to the council to pick a new interim leader until the next election. Usually they would appoint the next person under the Minister, however, all parties had 'mysteriously' vanished.

"The council will now come to order." Stated the chairman. All murmurings were ceased and Giovoni brought his attention toward the grizzled old man speaking. "You all know why we are here, so let us get straight to the point."

"We need someone who commands respect amongst the people." He continued "We cannot, unfortunately, choose the leader with the most experience." Everyone knew that the chairman wanted to appoint himself, but they also knew as did he that he could not command much of anything let alone respect by the masses. "It is unfortunate the Elite Four and the current Champion are no longer amongst us. They would be prime candidates for this position. As it stands we must work with what we have. Are their any suggestions?"

"I suggest we appoint a figurehead." Suggested one member. "Someone that will answer strictly to us and only us base on the decisions we make regarding this region."

There were several murmurs of agreement amongst the council before the chairman spoke again. "An excellent suggestion councilman Jacobs." Said the chairman as Jacobs smirked to himself. "I take it there are no objections to this proposal?" None of the members raised their hands so he continued. "I will now open the floor for nominations. I must point out that you may _not _nominate yourself." There were several grumbles at the last part of the statement, but the majority of the council remained professional.

A rather tall man with short green hair wearing a neatly pressed gray suit raised his hand and waited for acknowledgement from the chairman. "Councilmen Diggs you may precede." Said the chairmen.

"I nominate that we make councilmen Rokai the interim leader and figurehead for the council." He stated simply

"Second" Said several people around the table.

Giovoni nodded slightly to Diggs and waited for the chairmen to speak again. "It has been moved and properly seconded that councilman Rokai be appointed interim leader of the government and thereby under direct control of this body." Said the chairman. "Are there anymore nominations?" No one responded so he continued "Then there are only two steps left." He cleared his throat and addressed Giovoni. "Mr. Rokai you have heard the nomination do you accept?"

Giovoni stood up and looked over the entire council. All these men and women sitting around and bickering amongst themselves for hours at a time. Calling themselves a ruling body of the nation. He would have had them all terminated if not for the necessity, albeit a minute one, for them to elect him as their leader. He only had one problem with what they where trying to do…"I must say that I am grateful for the offer." He began "However, I regret to inform you all that I have no intention of accepting this nomination, as it stands."

There were several collective gasps and the council began to speak all at once. Finally the chairman banged his gavel ordering for silence. "Mr. Rokai perhaps it would be best if you explain your statement." Said the chairman

"Certainly chairman." Said Giovoni "While I see the logic behind your offer to elect a 'figurehead' as you called it. I also see the need for a decisive leader. One that will be able to issue commands and have them obeyed. In our countries current siege by the terrorist organization calling themselves Team Rocket. I believe that a peon of this council will not be able to meet the demands of such pressure brought by this ruthless organization and the fear the strike into the people." He paused letting his words sink in before continuing. "I will accept the nomination to act as an interim leader so that I may personally see to the destruction of Team Rocket and anyone else who dares stand against the peace of Kanto."

There were several murmurs again and one of the councilmen, Jacobs, spoke up again. "Are you implying that we as a unit are incapable of dealing with the likes of a few low-lifes like Team Rocket!" He asked incredulously. There were several calls of agreement with him as well as other similar statements directed toward Giovoni.

The chairmen called for order again and the council quieted down. "I see there is a disagreement with what Mr. Rokai has suggested." He began. "I myself see the reasoning behind both sides of the argument. I believe we should put it to vote. All in favor of Mr. Rokai attaining the nomination under his terms Say I."

There where a few "I's" called but it was clear the majority opposed. "All opposed?" Said the Chairman.

"Ne!" Chorused the remaining council.

He'd given them a chance. They could've done it the easy way, but of course being the fools they are they chose the hard way. That was fine by him he'd get what he wanted either way. He removed a single pokeball from his coat pocket and held it clenched in his fist. "I regret to inform the council that they have made the wrong decision." Said Giovoni malevolently. He noticed Diggs out of the corner of his eye withdrawing another pokeball. Ignoring the many yells and shouts of the chairman and other council members he continued. "I gave you all a chance to do things the easy way, but you decided to tempt fate. Now I must use a little persuasion." He grinned maniacally as he released the pokemon from its ball.

The silver form of Lugia materialized in the room. Barely able to fit in the enclosed environment. His wings touched both walls when he spread them out. His head almost touching the ceiling. He roared angrily and his eyes glowed a vivid crimson. Meanwhile Diggs ran to Giovoni's side and released his own pokemon. A very large Weezing. The other council members cowered in fear all huddled in one corner of the room since Giovoni was closer to the door. "Now, lets get down to business." He said matter of factly. "I want you all to sign this contract stating that I am now the new Prime minister of Kanto. I also want you all to sign this form which abolishes all powers of the governing council." He pulled out two separate contracts and held them in the air. "Failure to do so will result in Lugia here obliterating you with and Aero Blast fallowed by Kason's Weezing suffocating any of you who miraculously survive that. I can assure you that both are most painful and can easily be avoided."

The council members were all shocked. No one brought pokemon into this room. Why hadn't security come when the disturbance started? Are we going to make it out of here alive. These where just a few thoughts of some of the people t rapped in the room.

"Come forward one by one and sign your names." Said Giovoni.

"You cannot-" Began the chairman before he was silenced when Lugia glared at him.

Each member of the council signed the forms making everything legal. When they where done Giovoni had Lugia erase their memories of the event and put new ones in their place. It was as if they had all voted for this and Giovoni had the proof to make it all legitimate.

…

"_We go live to Don Carson in Veridian City with breaking news from the Regional Council's hall." Said the News Anchor_

"_Thank you Chuck." Said Don "We have just received word from inside the building regarding the new interim Minister for Kanto. It has been confirmed that our new Prime Minister is…"_

Gary glanced at the TV in his living and upon seeing the smug face of Giovoni on the screen he immediately stormed out of the house. He knew what he had to do and he knew exactly how to do it, but first he needed to make a phone call.

Taking out his poke'gear he dialed a number Ash had given him. After about three rings someone finally answered. "Hello?" Said the voice on the other end.

"Yeah, is this Todd?" Asked Gary.

"Who wants to know?" Asked Todd

"Gary Oak." Answered Gary "I'm a friend of Ash's"

"Okay, so what are you calling me for?" Asked Todd

"Ash needs you to do him a favor and asked me to call you." Said Gary

"Isn't he all the way in Hoenn?" Asked a confused Todd "What could he possibly want with me if he's all the way down there?"

'Getting to that." Said Gary "He wants you to meet me in Veridian City a few blocks from the Gym. And bring your camera."

"Are you sure _Ash_ wants me to do this?" Said Todd. He was starting to get suspicious. "Or is it _you _who wants me to do this?"

Now Gary was a little annoyed. "Look man this is an emergency Ash says he'll owe you big time for this, so just meet me in Viridian. Okay?"

"Sure whatever I got nothing better to do right now anyway." Said Todd "I might be able to get some nice pictures while I'm there."

"You have no idea." Said Gary. "See you there."

"Okay bye." Said Todd

Gary closed his poke'gear and took out a pokeball. He stared at it for a second before addressing the pokemon inside. "I knew you'd come in handy. Now All I have to do is hope this trick we been working on works."

…

"Sir you have to deliver a State of the Region Address tomorrow morning." Said Domino "You also have to meet with the other world leaders at the United Regions conference in a few days. Also I have some bad news to report."

"What is it?" Asked Giovoni annoyed

"You are aware that there was an accident at our base in the Whirl Islands?" Asked Domino. At a nod she continued. "We assumed that the Gym Leader was drowned or crushed after the structure was damaged. After clearing out the arena we found no trace of her or her pokemon."

Giovoni scowled at this. No one was supposed to escape from his facilities unless he wanted them to. "I leave you in charge for one day and this happens." It was a statement not a question. "I expected more from you 009."

"I'm sorry sir. She-" Began Domino

She was cut off by Giovoni "I do not want to hear your excuses. You are lucky that you're one of my top agents. Otherwise… Well you know what I do to failures." He paused for his words to take effect. "Begin the next phase of the plan. You are dismissed."

Domino Bowed slightly before exiting. As she was leaving a Rocket Grunt came in. "Sir we have a problem." He said fearfully "Turn on your entrance cameras."

Giovoni flipped a switch on his desk which brought up several screens which connected to the various security cameras around the Gym. On the camera at the entrance there was a boy with Brown hair. He was wearing a black shirt with a gold chain and royal purple colored pants. He had a smirk on his face that Giovoni found familiar. In front of the boy were a Blastoise and an Umbreon. It seemed that they'd disposed of the guards and were now trying to break into the Gym. It took Giovoni a moment of searching his memory to realize this was Gary Oak. He remembered battling him quite fondly. Gary had been so sure of himself. Giovoni purposely used two weak pokemon to build the boy's confidence up before sending out Mewtwo and crushing all of his pokemon at once. He couldn't help but also remember that shortly after that Mewtwo escaped.

"Open the doors." Said Giovoni "I'll deal with this personally."

"Yes sir!" Said the grunt

…

"Blastoise keep talking that door!" Ordered Gary "Umbreon you tackle it too."

("Why don't you use Nidoking?") Asked Umbreon while he carried out his orders

("Because he told you to do it now shut up and keep tackling that door!") Said Blastoise

("Thickheaded son of a bi-") Began Umbreon. Until he realized the doors were opening. ("Hey it's open!")

"Okay lets go you two." Said Gary. So far everything was going according to plan. He hoped Todd was ready on his end.

…

_I'm not sure how well this is going to work. _Thought Todd. _His plan sounds simple but still…_

Gary knows what he is doing Said Alakazam in Todd's head. He is ready for us to begin. 

The pokemon put a three fingered hand on Todd's arm and they both teleported into the Gym.

They reappeared in what looked to Todd like a laboratory. There where several pokemon in cages throughout the room. Some where in worse shape than others. And some just looked down right bizarre. There was a Dodrio with four heads, A Kangaskhan with several tubes sticking in it and some green fluid being pumped into the tubes. There were several Kingler and Krabby in an aquarium with some very large Octillery. There was a metal arm above the aquarium that would every so often submerge itself in the water and release an electric shock of varying power. These were just a few of the atrocities which were in the lab. Todd got pictures of them all. He didn't notice the security camera watching his every move.

…

Gary walked down the long entrance hall cautiously. He was expecting some sort of resistance and was very unnerved. He eventually made it to a set of double doors emblazoned with the symbol of the Earth Badge. The doors slowly opened to reveal the battle arena of the Gym.

"Welcome back Mr. Oak." Said Giovoni from his position on the far side of the field. "I assume you are here for a rematch?"

"That's right." Said Gary.

"You are aware that all League activities have been suspended?" Asked Giovoni

"This is personal." Said Gary "Arcanine Go!"

He threw his pokeball onto the field and the large tiger like pokemon appeared on the field. It howled in triumph as it took its battle stance.

"Very well" Said Giovoni "Nidoking Attack!"

Nidoking charged as soon as he was released from his pokeball. Hoping to end it quickly he initiated a Horn Drill attack. Arcanine was ready and dodged the attack letting loose a Flamethrower to counter.

"Nidoking, Earthquake!" Ordered Giovoni

"Arcanine Jump!" Said Gary

Nidoking stomped the ground hard making it shake violently. At the same time Arcanine jumped into the air using its powerful legs to gain tremendous height.

"Now Arcanine Fire Spin!"

"Nidoking Toxic then Defense Curl!"

Nidoking fired a Toxic attack from his horn and immediately curled into a ball just as Arcanine's flames rained down on him. Arcanine didn't wait for Gary's orders and dodged the Toxic while turning its decent into an Aerial Ace attack.

Giovoni seeing this acted quickly "Nidoking brace yourself and use Horn Drill!"

"Arcanine look out!" Shouted Gary

It was already too late. Arcanine plowed through the wall of flames and fell victim to the vicious Horn Drill. The horn caught it right in the gut causing it to faint instantly and also causing a large hole in the pokemon's belly. Arcanine lay bleeding and defeated while Nidoking roared triumphantly.

Gary returned Arcanine and withdrew another pokeball. "Blastoise take it out!"

Blastoise materialized from his pokeball and didn't waste any time firing a powerful Hydro Cannon straight at Nidoking. The drill pokemon didn't stand a chance against such a powerful water attack and Giovoni recalled it.

"Impressive pokemon Mr. Oak." Said Giovoni "Let's see how you deal with this."

Giovoni threw another pokeball onto the field revealing a vicious looking Nidoqueen. She was surprisingly a lot larger then the Nidoking and Blastoise. It was obvious to Gary that this pokemon had been beefed up by using steroids. The Pokemon stared down at Blastoise but didn't act.

"Nidoqueen. Thunder!" Said Giovoni calmly. He knew this would take out Blastoise since it took a while to recover from using Hydro Cannon.

"Blastoise dodge it!" Ordered Gary

Blastoise was tired from repeatedly tackling the door and using Hydro Cannon but he also didn't feel like getting shocked by a powerful electric attack either. He waited as long as possible gather his strength. As soon as Nidoqueen unleashed her attack Blastoise charged forward with a Skull Bash.

The Thunder attack missed the turtle pokemon but the Skull Bash connected. Unfortunately for Blastoise, Nidoqueen's Poison Point met the Skull Bash.

"Ha, now it's only a matter of time before you go down." Taunted Giovoni. "Nidoqueen use Thunder Punch while its close to you!"

"Blastoise Ice Beam!" Countered Gary.

Nidoqueen charged up her fist with electricity while Blastoise gathered the energy for an Ice Beam. Before Blastoise could release his attack the poison in his system caused intense pain in his stomach. He fought against the pain but the delay in the attack gave Nidoqueen's punch time to connect. Upon Impact a surge of electricity coursed through Blastoise's body. In involuntary muscle spasm unleashed the Ice Beam at point blank range incasing Nidoqueen in a thick block of ice. The combination of poison and electricity coursing through his body added to his fatigue was too much for Blastoise. He collapsed to the ground and Gary recalled him to his pokeball.

Gary took another pokeball from his jacket as Giovoni recalled Nidoqueen. _Alakazam it's almost time get ready._

…

_I can't believe this! _Thought Todd as he took more pictures. He had now made his way to the lower levels of the Gym. He had found a lot of evidence to support that the Gym was indeed Team Rocket's main headquarters. There where several Rocket Grunts patrolling the area as well as more labs with mutilated or altered pokemon. Thanks to his many adventures trying to photograph extremely rare and dangerous pokemon Todd had developed a good deal of stealth while he worked. He was now trying to find a way back into a particularly secure looking room. He was just about to examine the key panel when Alakazam addressed him.

Gary says it is time for part two Said the psychic pokemon telepathically

Todd nodded and Alakazam teleported them away.

…

"Impressive Mr. Oak." Said Giovoni "I see your pokemon have improved."

"Don't patronize me!" Yelled Gary "Let's see what you think of this. Go Mew!"

Giovoni raised an eyebrow at this. He couldn't believe this upstart actually had a pokemon that rare. He was aware at what Gary was trying to do His agents had informed him before the battle began about the snoop down in the labs. He'd had them put up the psychic barrier around the building so that there could be no escape by using Teleport. He knew that the cameraman and Gary were most likely working together and he'd had enough of these games.

True to Gary's words a Mew materialized onto the field. It remained completely silent and waited for Gary's orders.

"So you want to use legendary pokemon hmm?" Said Giovoni "Fine then." He removed a Master Ball from his suit jacket and tossed it onto the field "Lugia!"

Gary was taken aback. He didn't expect something like this. His plan just got a lot more complicated.

Meanwhile Todd had appeared with Alakazam in a dark corner of the Gym. He was awestruck. He took several pictures of the pokemon on the battlefield. The two pokemon stared each other down both waiting for their trainer's orders.

Gary knew he was in trouble. He had expected Giovoni to order some Rockets to attack the minute he released his pokemon. He had then planned to recall it and escape with Todd after he'd gotten some pictures of Giovoni with the Rockets. Now he had to think fast.

"Ditto new plan, Transform!" Yelled Gary. The "Mew" on the field transformed into an amorphous pink blob and immediately transformed into an exact copy of Lugia. "Umbreon, Nidoking get out here!"

Two more Pokeballs on Gary's belt released Umbreon and a Nidoking. The pokemon took their positions by the Ditto turned Lugia and prepared to battle.

"I knew a trainer as pathetic as you wouldn't have a pokemon so rare." Taunted Giovoni "I admire your nerve boy. Thinking you could oppose me." As he said this several Rockets came through the door. Carrying pokeballs and a few had machine guns. "I know what you're trying to do and it doesn't matter. I would much rather rule the people with an iron fist rather then respect as it is. Now Mr. Oak I'm afraid you and your little friend over in the corner won't be making it out of here alive."

Todd was surprised. He was so sure that he'd been careful. _Let's see stay out of eyesight…Check. Don't cause a commotion…Check. Look out for security cameras…Ah Shit! _The Rockets began advancing on his position so he acted fast. _Alakazam can you teleport Gay and me out of here?_

That should not be a problem. Answered the pokemon

Gary always considered himself to be a really good strategist. That's why hey always had a backup plan. "Ditto, Umbreon, Nidoking Shadow ball! Alakazam Icy Wind!"

The three pokemon sent their shadow balls toward Lugia who surprisingly made no effort to dodge them. Meanwhile Alakazam used Icy Wind like a Smokescreen. While the Grunts were temporarily blinded Alakazam used Confusion on them to get rid of their guns and pokeballs.

"Lugia don't just stand there move and fight back!" Ordered Giovoni. Lugia still made no move, but his master ball however was moving. Giovoni realized he was trying to break free of his control.

Lugia had managed to exert some free will. Since the psychic barrier around the building blocked all incoming and outgoing psychic waves the waves that Lugia naturally emitted where ricocheted off the barrier and thrown back at him. Using this he was able to amplify his power and fight against the control of the Master Ball.

Giovoni also figured out what Lugia knew and ordered the barrier shut off. He'd rather loose two worms that he could take care of later rather then loose his hard earned prize.

As soon as the barrier was down Alakazam grabbed Todd and teleported beside Gary. Gary recalled his pokemon and the three of them teleported out of the Gym.

"They will play for their little stunt." Said Giovoni as he recalled the now sedate Lugia. "They will pay dearly." He pressed a button on his chair and began to speak. "All Rockets this is Boss Rocket speaking. All agents not currently assigned are to move head to Pallet Town Immediately. Once there you are to burn it to the ground and leave no one alive."

…

"You know we're in deep shit now don't you?" Asked Todd as he and Gary made their way through a forest outside Veridian "We can't stick around here too long because Giovoni now runs the whole government here plus he's in control of the leading criminal organization in the region."

"I need to get back home fast." Said Gary flatly. "I should have thought about what would happen if I messed up. I know he's going to try to get to me by attacking Pallet."

Gary felt absolutely helpless. He knew there was little to nothing he could do once he got to Pallet aside form warning everyone there. "Listen man I'm sorry I got you involved in this but I need you to get those pictures to someone who can help us. I'd say the police but it's safe to say that there's little they can do."

"I think I know someone who can help us out." Said Todd "I'll see what I can do. You need to get back to Pallet and warn them that Team Rocket is probably going to attack."

Gary nodded and took a pokeball. "Scizor Go!" The pincer pokemon appeared and waited for its trainers orders. "Get me to Pallet fast!"

Scizor flew into the air then grabbed Gary and started heading south toward Pallet. They got close to Tojo Falls when suddenly there was a feral cry.

"FEAROOWWWWW!" ("KIIIIIIIILLLLLLLL!")

"You've got to be kidding me." Moaned Gary

A flock of Spearow with a Fearow in the lead started heading toward Gary and Scizor. Since Scizor was carrying Gary in his arms there was little he could do but avoid the onslaught of Wing Attacks and Drill Pecks. Several of the Spearow decided to use Swagger. So many attacks confused Scizor and sent him into a rage. If not for Gary's constant yelling he would've been dropped by his own pokemon. All the while the Fearow had been charging up a Sky Attack and now headed straight for Scizor. He slammed into Scizor full force causing him to drop Gary and go plummeting into the water fall below.

"FEEEEAAARRROWWWWW!" (VIIIIIIICCCCCCTTTTTTTOOOOOORRRRRRRRYYYYYYY!")

…

**A/N: I hope this chapter was enjoyable. It took me a while to get it all straightened out plus I was feeling kinda lazy and didn't want to write. Anyways Please Review.**

**Until Next Time**


	9. Showdown of the Beasts

Showdown of the Beasts

"You are aware that it is almost time?"

"Yes"

"Are you prepared?"

"I am"

"Then you must find the others and inform them of what needs to be done."

"Do you think they will listen"

"Probably not, but I'm sure you can convince them."

…

Entei the legendary beast of fire ran through one of the many forests in northern Johto. He'd seen the gathering thunder clouds and knew that only one being could be responsible. Raikou. This wouldn't be the first time the thunder beast had decided to invade his domain and Entei was sure it wouldn't be the last. Raikou and Entei challenged each other at least once a decade. This way they could gauge each other's strength and see who was truly the strongest amongst them. Hopefully _He _wouldn't interfere this time.

As the Entei drew closer to the heart of the raging storm He was suddenly stopped by a bolt of lightning striking directly in front of him.

("I won't miss next time.") Said Raikou with a smirk ("Still as slow as ever. I've been here almost a whole day waiting for you to show up.")

("You know what they say.") Said Entei ("Good things come to those who wait. And in your case those things will be several bruises and quite a few broken limbs.")

("How quickly we forget who ran away with his tail between his legs when last we met.") Taunted Raikou.

("He who fights and runs away…") Began Entei. He launched a Flamethrower at Raikou before continuing. ("…lives to win another day.")

Raikou was not impressed with the fire attack. He charged at Entei with a Volt Tackle hoping to catch him off guard. He wasn't so lucky because he ran straight into a Fire Blast. The intense flame attack was lessened thanks to the lightning surrounding Raikou's body but it still caused quite a bit of damage.

Entei prepared to unleash another flame attack when he was cut off by a resounding shout. ("ENOUGH YOU FOOLS!") Cried Suicune as he approached the two dueling beasts. ("Now is not the time for your petty challenge. There is urgent-") He was cut off because he had to avoid an oncoming Zap Cannon and Flamethrower.

("We do not need you to play peacemaker Suicune.") Said Entei

("Since you make it your business to always interfere I shall defeat you both!") Declared Raikou.

("Now is not the time for-") Suicune was silenced by a Thunderbolt. He roared in pain as the electricity coursed through his body. He staggered to his feet and glared at Raikou ("So be it. If I must defeat you both to have you listen then that it how it must be.") With that he fired an Aurora Beam at Raikou who wasn't expecting such a quick response. The beam sent him flying several yards where he finally came to rest at the bottom of a great oak.

Entei never one to take an advantage pounced on the water beast and plunged his fangs into the other's flank. Suicune was outraged at what he considered sacrilege. NO ONE messes up the shiny blue coat that he spends HOURS grooming every morning. He lashed out with his hind legs sending Entei flying with a vicious double kick to the gut followed immediately by a Bubble Beam. Suicune turned his attention back toward Raikou's direction just in time to receive a full force Volt Tackle. The attack caused him to role end over end and stop just a few feet away from where Entei was recovering.

Raikou prepared to launch a Shock Wave attack but was stopped by a burning pain all through his body. Entei smirked as he watched Raikou writhe in pain from his Overheat attack. However he made a grave mistake by turning his back on Suicune. A cold blast of water hitting him from behind taught him the error of his ways. He didn't get long to relish his pain because a new pain came in the form of a well aimed Zap Cannon.

Raikou took his eyes off Entei's now paralyzed form and launched a Thunder Wave toward Suicune's direction. Thankfully for the aurora pokemon he was still woozy from the intense burns Entei had inflicted upon him. The static waves went several feet to the right of their intended target. Suicune thinking that Entei was now out of the fight launched an Ice Beam at Raikou. He dodged it and countered with a Thunderbolt. Thanks to the torrential storm that he'd brewed up to lure out Entei the attack was very fast and almost impossible to dodge. Suicune was hit full force by the attack and then hit full force by a vicious slash across the face by a very angry fire beast.

Entei's claws dug deep into Suicune's face. Three lines starting from the top left of his head and going over his left eye to his snout gushed his red life fluid all over the ground.

Suicune let out a horrifying roar of pain and unbridled fury. "CUUUUNNNNNEEE!" Entei backed away in alarm and Raikou started charging up electricity. Neither got the chance to do anything as a devastating hail storm took the place of the thunder clouds. Suicune continued manipulating the elements and let loose a Blizzard attack that would put Articuno to shame. The blast instantly froze both Raikou and Entei solid.

Suicune assessed the current situation. He was now in complete control. With the hail storm raging and his two would be challengers incased in their ice prison he could finally get to the purpose of his meeting with the other beasts.

("Now that you are otherwise occupied…") Began Suicune ("…I can get back to what I was saying, WE HAVE URGENT BUSINESS TO DUSCUSS. I have messages for you both from the Mistress Ho-Oh.")

Inside their respective ice blocks Entei and Raikou listened intently. It was one thing to ignore Suicune but you did **_NOT _** ignore Ho-Oh. ("W-w-w-w-what i-i-i-iss i-i-i-it?") Chattered Raikou shivering in his ice block.

("You do remember the prophecy Celebi gave to Ho-Oh a few centuries ago don't you?") Asked Suicune. At the confused looks of his peers he sighed and began to explain. ("You know that Celebi is the guardian of time and the she looks at all possible catastrophes that could occur and tries to prevent the major ones from happening?") At a nod he continues. ("Well being the cryptic pokemon she is when she sees one of these particular events she comes back to whatever her current present is and informs Ho-Oh of the events that will occur. Then she gives a prophecy that somehow tells of a way to prevent it.")

Entei had steadily been building up his internal heat and finally had enough to use a flamethrower in order to melt his prison. He shook off his coat and glared at Suicune. ("Don't EVER do that again!")

("You slashed me across the face and now I most likely have a permanent scar.") Said Suicune simply ("You're lucky I don't drown you.")

("W-w-w-what d-d-does t-t-t-hat have t-t-t-to d-ddo with usss.") Shivered Raikou. He had no way of melting the ice so he was stuck until one his comrades took pity on him and let him out.

("Well just listen to the prophecy and you should figure it out.") Said Suicune. To add dramatics and ever wanting to flaunt his power over the north wind he caused a strong gale to blow and had it recite the words of the prophecy.

_When a Shadow rises to claim the titans of the elements_

_The Guardian shall fall and the titans shall serve the shadow_

_The beasts must then choose_

_Serve a mortal pure of heart and desire_

_Ancient enemies will clash_

_The light shall then find its way._

_The shadow will continue to rise_

_But the light shall conquer the shadow_

_Only to fall in the end_

_The light shall then be reborn_

_The rest shall be left to fate_

("Could that bee get any more cryptic?") Asked Entei. ("I have no idea what any of that means.")

("All I was told was that we are the beasts.") Said Suicune. ("I assume that in time the rest shall be made clear.")

("You mean I have to act like a common Growletthe!") Asked Entei indignantly

("You don't really have much of a choice.") Said Suicune ("I've already found my mortal so you must find yours.") With that he was gone although he did not bother to relinquish the hail storm. It would linger for at least a day after he'd left.

Entei looked at the still frozen Raikou and smirked. ("Until next time.") He said as he prepared to bound off.

("Y-y-yyyou're g-g-g-oing to l-l-leave me here!") He shivered

("The ice will thaw.") Said Entei ("Eventually")

He to ran off in the opposite direction of Suicune. Raikou was now left in a nasty hail storm encased in a block of ice. _How mature. This is the behavior of the Noble Beasts of the Phoenix. _

…

A/N: A little shorter than some of my other chapters but I hope I can still get a review for it . Will Raikou ever get out of the ice. What does the prophecy mean? Honestly I have no idea. But when I find out you readers will be the first to know.

Until Next Time.


	10. Mind Scars

**A/N: I finally have my reviews into the double digits . The chapters are now in the double digits too. I'd like to thank all my reviewers so far and any new readers getting to this point feel free to drop a comment. And now to respond to a couple of things…**

**Foxyjosh-Looks like Meowth did join "Team Twerp."**

**Thebenjamin-I am glad you like it and thanks for the review**

**Antithesis-Thanks for the "Flame" lol. I will try to correct those spelling errors for future chapters. Which ones really stand out by the way? And I do know exactly what the prophecy means since I have a basic outline of this story til the end. And as the writer I won't say.**

**Cdfe88-I am glad you like it. I am updating now so I guess this is as ASAP as you can get since you just reviewed yesterday. I know what you mean about not seeing a next button when your really into a story. I can name quite a few excellent fics in many categories that I wish would get updated**

**Ri2-I saved the best for last. First I'd like to say thank you for comprising 50 of my review count so far. Second, I have read your story and I can also see similarities, however, this story is going in a totally different direction. Also I don't think I can write this to be as long as yours. 400,000+ words that's pretty long. Also Ash doesn't report Gio because he doesn't have any proof. Gary was getting proof but we see what happened to him. GOD DAMN FEAROW. Anyways thanks again and I hope you you're enjoying this fic.**

**And now the story…**

…

Mind Scars

Voices. That's what she heard. They sounded distant but they were there. Her head felt like it was filled with lead. She hurt all over and her body felt stiff. Whenever she tried to open her eyes the lids refused to comply. She didn't know how long she'd felt like this. Days? Weeks? Months? She couldn't even remember how she'd gotten in this state. The only thing she knew was this feeling and the voices.

"She coming around yet?" Asked a gruff male voice.

"No, I'm afraid not." Said a kindly female voice. "I'm beginning to worry it's been almost a week.") So that's how long it had been a week. A week sense when?

"That Gyrados that washed up with her isn't doing much better." Said the gruff voice again. "I checked on it with Nurse Joy. She says the things utterly exhausted and won't eat anything. She also said it got really violent whenever it's let out of its ball."

Gyrados? That's right she had one of those.

"I still don't understand why a young girl like her would have such a fearsome pokemon." Said the woman's voice again. "Didn't you say there where more pokeballs that washed up along the beach?"

"Yes there were six of them." Said the man "One of them was the Gyrados' and another one was empty. The rest had different water pokemon. I assume that's her type specialty."

That's right she was a water pokemon trainer. Why would she have an empty pokeball?

"I still think we should have tried to get her to Olivine City." Said the man "Joy says that we've been doing a good job with her but we're only a small clinic."

"It was a big enough risk to move her from the beach to here." Said the woman "Olivine's not far from Cainwood but I'd like to see if she recovers consciousness first."

"I know what you mean." Said the man "Hey did you hear what's going on over in Kanto…" His voice trailed off as her consciousness began to wane.

…

"Corsala?" ("Misty?")

She heard someone talking but couldn't quite understand them.

"Politoad poli politoad" ("I don't think she's waking up.")

"Psy iy iiy Duck!" (Don't say that!")

"Hyhaaa" ("You actually know what's going on?")

"Duck?" ("huh?")

"Corsala Cor." ("It figures.")

"Politoad poli politoad?" ("Where are Gyrados and Starmie?")

A single word that she was able to decipher made a memory flash into her mind. A large yellow bird sending a plume of lighting at a purple starfish. The starfish writhing in pain and shriveling up. A large blue serpentine creature freezing part of the bird's wing.

Misty's eyes suddenly shot open and she bolted upright. Only to have a wave of dizziness overtake her and cause her to fall back onto the crude hospital bed.

("Misty!") A chorus of pokemon voices said at once. They were all there Politoed, Corsala, Staryu, and Psyduck. She remembered Gyrados was at the pokemon center and Starmie was…

She couldn't help but let the tears fall. All the memories of the past few weeks came flooding back. She remembered having to watch Team Rocket destroy the Gym, watch them torture the other Gym Leaders, being tortured herself, having to battle against those terrifying pokemon and seeing Starmie's petrified ashes crack and crumble.

Her sobs drew the attention of the nurse in the other room. She came in and saw Misty's eyes open and immediately went about checking her vitals. "It's alright dear." She said trying to soothe her patient "I'm only trying to help."

Misty didn't respond she just had to let the tears fall. After holding back from releasing her emotions for so long the dam on them was broken and it seemed as though the river of pain had no intention of subsiding. She didn't even try to resist the nurse's administrations. She didn't have the strength, mentally of physically.

…

Three days. Three days since she'd returned to the world of consciousness. The world of pain. She'd been able to answer a few of the Nurse's questions about her name, where she'd come from, but she couldn't bring herself to explain how she'd come to be on the island. The pain was too much. She knew her sisters and their pokemon where still trapped. Brock and his family plus all the other Gym leaders. There was also two of her other pokemon still being held there. She'd left Seeking and Seadra with her sisters and they hadn't been a part of her regular party sense she'd left the Gym with Ash. Now that was a comforting thought. He wasn't in Kanto. He was somewhere in Hoenn doing what he loved. At least he didn't need to witness any of the atrocities she had to go through. Along with the comfort came a wave of bitterness toward the young trainer. He'd left her there. Sent Brock away to go through all these horrible things. He didn't know and he probably didn't care. These were only a few of the conflicting emotions she felt.

The nurse informed her that she would be discharged from the clinic soon. She knew that she should be happy about this, but happiness seemed so far away. Now she sat in her room her only company her pokemon. She'd manage to answer Politoed's question eventually. They seemed to take it pretty hard, but they all tried to cheer her up. Their efforts however seemed to be doing little to no good in curing her depression.

("Psyduck don't stick your finger in…") Began Staryu. It was trying to stop Psyduck from sticking his finger into an electrical socket. As usual it didn't work.

"Psy iyiyiyiyiy" Screamed Psyduck.

("You stupid duck! Can't you go two seconds without hurting yourself?") Asked Corsala

("Headache!") Yelled Psyduck

("Misty quick return him before…") Started Politoad

Misty looked over to her pokemon. She knew she should probably take Politoed's suggestion, but she just didn't feel like it. Psyduck's eyes began to glow a pale blew and he began to emit odd psywaves. Unknown to him and everyone else. He was combining Hypnosis and Calm Mind. His finger was also still in the electric socket.

What happened next would always baffle Misty's pokemon. One minute they where all standing in a hospital room with their trainer. The next they seemed to be in a dark cave.

"huh?" Asked Psyduck

"What are we doing in a cave?" Asked Staryu "Where's Misty?"

"You stupid duck! What did you do this time!" Yelled Corsala

'Umm guys?" Started Politoed. The others stopped yelling at Psyduck and looked at him expectantly "You notice something different?"

"You mean besides the fact that we are in a cave and there seems to be some weird crying going on in the background?" Asked Staryu sarcastically.

"Yeah," Said Politoed. "We're not speaking in our own languages. We're talking like humans."

"Huh?" Said the others. Then the realization hit them like a ton of bricks.

"How is that possible?" Asked Staryu

Corsala ran up to Psyduck and smacked him with her horn. "What did you do!" She yelled.

"Ow." Said the idiotic duck "That hurt"

"He doesn't know Corsala so stop abusing him." Said Politoed. "I know he used a Hypnosis attack but other then that I have no clue."

"So we're all asleep then?" Asked Staryu

"Seems that way." Said Politoed "His finger was still in the electric socket so he probably released some kind of electric waves that causes us all to be in some sort of linked dream."

"How do you know that?" Asked Corsala "Not like you know much about electricity."

"You're right." Said Politoed "But if you hang around Pikachu as long as I have you pick a few things up."

"So how do we get out of here?" Asked Staryu

"I guess we fallow this cave and see where it goes." Said Politoed. "I wanna know what that crying noise is."

They all agreed that Politoed had the best pan of action. They started walking through the cave the crying noise steadily growing louder. Finally they came to a large chamber with many different tunnels branching out from it. The tunnels all had a blue haze around them.

"What do we do now?" Asked Corsala

"I guess we pick one." Said Staryu

Psyduck didn't seem to notice that the group had stopped so he continued walking to the passage on the far left. Not heading the warning of the other pokemon he walked right through the haze.

"That duck is the most stupid creature I have ever seen." Said Corsala

"I have to agree with you but we'd better follow him." Said Politoed "If something happens to him we might be stuck here."

The others gasped at the Idea of their fates being in the hands of a dimwitted duck. They all charged after him into the haze.

…

What greeted them through the passage was a sight indeed. It looked like they where in the Cerulean Gym. The living quarters actually. They stared at a puzzling scene. There were four young girls the oldest no more then 14. The youngest about 5. There was an Officer Jenny in the living room with the girls she looked very grim.

"Girls I think you should all sit down." Said Jenny

"Why?" Asked the oldest girl. She had blonde hair and very familiar looking eyes. "Where's mom and dad? Why are you here?" You could tell she was panicking. Being the age she was it didn't take her long to figure out what was going on.

"There was an incident." Said Jenny "Team Rocket attacked the Vessel they where on which was heading back from the Orange Islands. They stole all the pokemon on board and sank the ship. They locked the passengers in their cabins and sank the ship. There where no survivors."

"So when are mommy and daddy coming back?" asked the youngest girl. She didn't quite understand what was just said.

"They aren't coming back Runt!" Yelled one of the other girls. She had blue hair and looked to be about 10. "Didn't you hear her there where no survivors. THEY'RE DEAD!" She broke down into tears along with the rest of her sisters.

The youngest girl was still confused. She didn't understand why her sister had yelled at her. She just wanted her parents to come home. But they never came.

The pokemon looked on in awe. They knew who these people where. They where a lot younger, but there was no mistaking them. These where Daisy, Lilly, Violet and Misty. They knew Misty's parents had died, but they didn't know how.

Suddenly the scene went fuzzy and dark. All that could be seen was Misty still 5 and her sisters standing around her.

"You see runt. You see how incompetent you were and still are?" Asked Lilly taunting the little girl. "That's why mom and dad died to get away from _you!_"

"Hey!" Said Staryu "Leave her alone that's not true."

They didn't seem to hear it because Violet spoke up next. "You pushed this memory to the back of your head hoping to forget all about it." She said mockingly. "You remember what you did the next day? You tried to run away crying to yourself like a weakling. Just like you're doing now. You left us to rot in that hell hole Team Rocket put us in and all you do is sit there crying!"

"Misty didn't leave you there on purpose!" Yelled Corsala "Stop yelling at her!"

Again it was as if the Pokemon weren't there. Daisy took her turn to belittle her sister next. "You're so pathetic Misty." She said in a sing-song voice. "You couldn't understand then and you can't understand now. What a useless waste of space you are."

Politoed had seen enough of this and launched a water gun at the figures of Misty's sisters. The attack went right through them. They laughed at the short pokemon. "Look Misty your little pets want to help you!" Laughed Daisy.

"You can see us?" Asked Staryu

"Like duh!" They said in unison. "You're all trying so hard to save your pathetic trainer from herself. You can't do anything. You should just let her wallow in her own self pity."

"Misty is not pathetic!" Said Psyduck. The other pokemon looked at him confused. That was the most coherent thing they'd heard him say since…well ever. It was a double shock when he continued. "You're the pathetic ones. You three are nothing but shallow valley-girl wannabes who can't train a pokemon to save your life. Misty's a better trainer, better person and better then all of you put together period!"

The pokemon stood there open mouthed. Even Misty's small form looked at Psyduck confused. Suddenly the scene changed again. Now Misty was about 11 or 12. She was in a battle against Jessie during the pokemon princess doll tournament. Jessie had lost two pokemon already and was now on her last one, Lickitung. The long tongued lizard had already beaten Pikachu and Bulbasaur which Misty had borrowed from Ash for the tournament. Now Misty was preparing to call out Staryu when there was a rumble from her backpack fallowed by a flash of light and out popped none other than Psyduck.

"Psy?" ("What?") Said the duck now on Misty's side of the field.

"Lickitung Lick that duck!" Ordered Jessie

"Oh no Psyduck!" Yelled Misty

"This looks bad." Said Corsala. She turned to the real Psyduck "Did you really do that? Never mind I'm sure you did."

"Huh?" Said a confused Psyduck

Meanwhile Lickitung had successfully licked the other Psyduck right on the head. There was a collective gasp from all present in the scene and a triumphant laugh from Jessie. Then the Psyduck on the battle field shook his head from side to side and started moaning in pain.

"Psyiyiy!" ("Headache!")

"huh?" Said the real Psyduck

Misty's frown grew into a huge grin when she realized what was happening. "Psyduck, Confusion!" Psyduck's eyes started to glow a pale purple as he unleashed his psychic onslaught on Lickitung. The force of the attack caused the lizard to go flying into Jessie who flew into James and Meowth. They all landed in a heap on the other end of the field.

"Why you-" Started Jessie. She was silenced when she and her team where surrounded by a read glow and tossed into the air. They where then hit with another psychic blast.

The trio flew away toward the horizon yelling their classic departure. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaiiiin!" They yelled.

Afterward Misty was rewarded the set of Pokemon Princess dolls and had them shipped them off to the Cerulean Gym.

"This'll prove to my sisters once and for all how much better I am than they are!" She said cheerily. "I wish I could see the looks on their faces."

The room went back to being black again with Misty once again 5 facing her sisters. The older girls looked at Misty and began to laugh.

"What's that suppose to prove?" Asked Daisy

"It proves I'm not pathetic and I'm much better than you are!" Yelled Misty.

Everything began to go fuzzy and the pokemon found themselves back in the chamber with the hazy passages. The passage on the far left began to fade and suddenly it disappeared. Now there where 4 passages left. The group looked around trying to decide which way to go next.

"We may as well take the next one from left again." Said Staryu "I think I see what's happening here. We're in Misty's nightmare. These are all the negative things she thinks about herself."

"Not all just the worst ones." Said a voice from behind them. They turned around to see a ghostly outline of Misty standing in the middle of the room. "I don't know how you got in here but you're wasting your time. These are all true and there's nothing you can do to change them. I'm useless and I'm not fit to be your trainer."

"That's not true!" They all said in unison

"Yes it is." Said Misty "I let one of my pokemon die and sent another into an uncontrolled rage. What kind of trainer does that. Keep trying if you want, but you'll only get dragged down with me."

The image of their trainer disappeared and the pokemon continued on their exploration of her dark subconscious. They walked through the next door and found themselves back in the Gym. Again Misty's sisters now a little older were berating her.

"You can't be in the show!" Said Daisy "Your too scrawny and you'd just ruin our image."

"Besides you can't swim as well as we can anyway." Said Lilly

"I can to swim as well as you probably better!" Said Misty indignantly.

"Prove it!" Said Violet "If you beat Seel in a race we'll let you swim in the show with us."

The three other girls smirked. They knew very well that there was no way Misty could beat the seal pokemon. Misty knew it as well but she wouldn't let her sisters win.

"Fine you're on!" She declared

The pokemon watched as Misty attempted to out swim Seel. She was actually doing a good job of keeping up with it until Violet gave it an order. "Seel, like use Agility!" The pokemon complied and within seconds it had outdistanced Misty and was now on its return trip waving happily at the girl as it swam back past her.

"See we knew you couldn't do it!" Said Lilly "You're just a scrawny little runt who'll never amount to anything. And you'll never be in the show."

The three laughed and laughed. Eventually it seemed as though there was nothing but their laughter. The scene went dark as it had in the other chamber leaving Misty standing alone, however the laughter still didn't fade.

"They where right I was too scrawny and I'll never be good enough for them." Said Misty.

"No they weren't." Said Staryu "Did you forget that easily? You got the chance to prove them wrong."

The chamber began to change again. This time Misty was in the Gym with her sisters. Ash and Brock where there as well and they where all talking about something.

"Where do you three get off thinking I'll do a show for you?" Asked Misty indignantly

"We're like desperate Misty." Said Daisy "The public is getting bored with our diving and swimming shows so we needed something new."

"How did you know I was coming anyway?" Asked Misty

Her sisters looked at Ash and Brock who began to cower away. "Brock like sent a letter saying you were on your way." Said Violet. She didn't realize that this was going to result in Brock being smacked on the head with a mallet that came out of nowhere.

"We also need your help since we don't have enough pokemon for the show." Said Lilly

"Now you want my pokemon?" Shrieked Misty

"Like chill out Misty it's only for one show." Said Daisy

"We really need your help." Said Lilly

"Please?" Said all three in unison

"Fine." Resigned Misty

The chamber began to show events moving very fast. Misty in the mermaid costume performing with the pokemon. Team Rocket interrupting the show. Ash, Brock and Pikachu jumping into the pool to fend off the rockets. Pikachu sending team rocket out through the whole from which they came.

"Looks like Team Rocket's Blasting off agaaaiiinn!" They cried.

As Misty got out of the pool the crowed cheered enthusiastically for Misty and her friends. The chamber shifted to later that day with Misty and her sisters talking.

"We like really appreciate what you did for us little sis." Said Daisy

"Yea we like owe you big time." Said Violet.

When the chamber returned to the black area Misty stood once again alone but the laughter of her sisters was gone. The room began to blur again and now the pokemon where all back in the main cavern. Once again facing the hazy passages. The one they had entered faded and now there were only three left.

"Please stop." Whimpered the ghostly form of their trainer. It was a little less translucent than it was before and now could be distinctly made out to be Misty. "Don't go to anymore rooms. I don't want to go through anymore."

"We have to." Said Politoed "We can't leave you like this."

The Pokemon started heading toward the next passage.

"No! don't go in there!" Cried Misty. She ran after her pokemon who had already reached the entrance's threshold. Upon getting close to the haze she was sucked into the room after her pokemon.

…

Misty opened her eyes to see she was standing in a burning forest. There was fire everywhere. She could barely see the ghostly outlines of her four pokemon standing some ways away from her. She looked at them with contempt. _I told them to stop and they won't listen to me. I don't want their help I'm fine the way I am. _She thought bitterly. She continued to look at her surroundings trying to figure out which horrible memory she was dragged into this time.

All she could see was forest. Some the trees where burning others where now lifeless and withered already having been consumed by the flames. She could see something moving in the distance and headed toward it. When she got there she saw something she wished she hadn't. On the ground lay dozens of Togepi. Standing over them where scores of Ninjask and a single Shadinja. The Shadinja was floating in front of a very sinister looking man who Misty immediately recognized as Hanson. The Shadinja was attacking something that looked like a Togepi with short stubby wings and slightly longer neck and legs. Misty gasped when she saw exactly what it was.

"Togetic!" She cried. It didn't seem as though he'd heard her. Togetic's eyes began to glow an eerie red and it let out a cry of pure rage.

"Togeeeeeeeee!" ("Ancient Power!")

The forest floor suddenly rose upward bringing anything on top of it high into the air. In a fabulous display of power Togetic caused the whole area to come floating upward leaving a giant crater where the forest floor once was. Trees, Ninjasks, Togepi corpses and even Hanson and his Shadinja where now floating high above the ground at the mercy of the raging Happiness Pokemon. The floating chunk of land suddenly flipped upside down and came crashing toward the crater at lightning speed. Togetic forced the giant rock to smash into the bottom of the crater again and again killing all that lay between it and the ground. Eventually the giant slab of land crumbled and its remains where spattered with the blood of the Ninjasks and Hanson along with his Shadinja. Togetic wasn't done yet however. He took a deep breath and unleashed a flamethrower over the rocks. The fire was so hot it caused the rocks to liquefy and form a smoldering lake of lava. If anything had miraculously survived the first assault it was sure to be gone now.

Misty watched all this in complete shock. Had her innocent baby pokemon actually done that. Had Togetic killed all those pokemon in cold blood. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it.

Togetic turned to Misty with a sinister expression on his face. "Hello _Mom._" He said. His voice dripping with detest for Misty. "You don't deserve to be called a mother. What kind of parent turns their child into a mass murderer?"

"NO!" Screamed Misty "You were just defending yourself. You were trying to help the Togepi!"

Togetic laughed heartily "You think I was trying to protect them?" He asked "I'm the one that killed them. Hanson was trying to stop me and you see what happened to him."

Misty was shocked. She didn't know what to say. The only word she could get out was "Why?"

"Why?" Said Togetic "Why! Why not? They were annoying always trilling around acting so happy. They disgusted me. I wasn't happy. First daddy left me but I still had you and then you left me hear because I evolved and wasn't cute and cuddly anymore. You never cared about me. I was just some show thing for you. Something to make you feel better about yourself. You were a horrible excuse for a mother!"

Togetic's words ate away at Misty's already breaking heart. He was right. She just babied him and took him around. She left him there as soon as he evolved and didn't look like he needed to be held anymore. What kind of mother figure was she? She turned her baby into a monster. She didn't deserve him at all. Even though she admitted these things to herself they left a bitter taste in her mouth. Something inside of her would not except the fact that she was admitting these things. Deep inside she knew she was wrong. She had been a good mother to Togepi. She'd always put him first no matter what. She'd always looked out for him even at the cost of her own safety. Whenever Togepi would get into trouble it was always her that went crazy with worry wondering if he'd be alright. When Togepi finally evolved into Togetic she'd been so happy for him. She had wanted him to come back from the Mirage Kingdom with her, but he had stayed because he wanted to make sure the Togepi where alright. She did none of those things he was accusing her of. And there was no way that this thing or these images could be real.

"You're lying." She said calmly "I wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but I always treated Togepi with love and care. You aren't the real Togetic. The real Togetic would never do anything like this!"

"How would you know?" Asked Togetic "Have you so much as checked on me since you abandoned me?"

"I know Togetic will guard the Togepi just like I guarded him when he was one." Said Misty "You're just a figment and you aren't real."

"You may be right." Said Togetic "But this will always be your worst nightmare. You'll always have the seed of doubt in your mind about weather or not you were good enough for your precious Togetic."

"I know I have doubts from time to time but that's what makes me who I am." Said Misty "If I thought I was perfect I'd never be able to improve. You can say whatever you want about way might happen and how much doubt I have in myself, but If you say that you also have to acknowledge the confidence I have. I know Togetic is strong and noble, he'd never do something as horrible as what you just did."

The forest scene began to distort and gradually started to disappear. There was a sudden flash of light and Misty found herself back in the main cavern now with only two passages remaining.

"Great job Misty!" Cheered Corsala "You didn't even need our help that time."

"Yeah you showed that Togetic wannabe whose boss!" Said Politoed

"Do you still wish for us to stop?" Asked Staryu

"I think we can make it out of here guys." Said Misty "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier and thank you for helping me."

"huh?" Said Psyduck

Misty couldn't help but smile. Even in the worst of situations Psyduck was still Psyduck. "Come on guys we're almost done." They walked to the next passageway and entered the next chamber. Misty was not ready for what she saw.

She looked at the towering form of Zapdos flying high above the arena. Starmie poised for action awaiting her commands. She saw herself in the tattered remains of her clothing that she was wearing during the attack on the Gym. She saw Domino looking as smug as ever commanding the Thunder Titan.

The battle played out just as before. Misty ordered Starmie to use Psychic, Domino using Endure fallowed by a Full Restore. Misty calling for another Psychic and Domino ordering Zapdos to "Shock that thing to oblivion." Misty pleading with her to stop after trying and failing to return her pokemon to its ball. Domino laughing triumphantly.

Misty watched in horror for a second time these events. She didn't see the purpose of her mind making her relive this tragedy. It only served in ripping the wounds open once more. Misty's other self called out Gyrados and the serpent reappeared on the field. Misty caught Gyardos' eyes moving around and landing on Starmie's remains she then saw him look at Domino who was beside herself with glee. She noted the Gyrados' eyes already started to glow red even before she'd given him the order to use Rage. Now she realized that her pokemon was already at the end of his rope and Starmie's death combined with Domino's cackling is what really pushed him over the edge. Her order only served as a catalyst to boost his rage.

"So that's what happened?" Asked Staryu. It was in shock. Starmie and Staryu had both been Misty's starter pokemon. Starmie had wanted to evolve so Misty had use a water stone on it. They where as close as close could be. Staryu was filled with rage at the human who ordered the attack on its kin.

"Yes Staryu. It was my fault." Said Misty sadly. "I should've returned Starmie as soon as she used that Full Restore."

"It wasn't you." Said Staryu. "It was HER!" The star shape pokemon sent itself flying toward the image of Domino in a monstrous Rapid Spin. Once it got to the image it sailed right through her with no resistance. Staryu landed and tried continually to damage Domino in one way or another.

Misty was taken aback. She was so sure that her pokemon would blame her for the loss of its best friend. She blamed herself, why should anyone else think differently. Watching her pokemon attack again and again Misty came to realize why he blamed her. He knew that Zapdos didn't have a choice, the master ball manipulating his will. She also realized that Staryu didn't blame her because she had tried to save Starmie and she wasn't the one who ordered the attack. This left only one person at fault. Domino.

In another blinding flash the group was back in the main chamber. Staryu was still trying to take its revenge on Domino, but suddenly realized where it was. "Misty when we get out of here we have to find that human." He said simply

"I know Staryu." She said quietly "We'll pay her back for what she did to Starmie."

Now there was only one passage remaining. Like the others it was surrounded by a thick haze, but unlike the others it was shrouded in a red colored mist while. The others had been blue.

"I don't like the look of that." Said Politoed. "Why does it look different?"

"It doesn't matter." Said Misty "This is the last one. Let's go."

She walked to the passages entrances and disappeared through the haze. Before the pokemon could fallow the passage disappeared.

"Misty!" They cried

…

Tonight was the night. She'd been waiting for this day for a long time. Everything was perfect. The sky was clear so that all the stars could be seen. The moon was in full view at the zenith of its cycle. And she had finally built up the courage to tell him the truth.

They where walking down the path just outside Pallet Town. She had her arm intertwined with his her head leaning on his shoulder. They where headed to the river where they'd first met. This was going to be perfect. Nothing could go wrong, nothing.

They reached the water fall and stared at the sky just taking in its natural beauty. She turned to her companion and looked him in his chocolate brown eyes. Those eyes that she was so desperately in love with.

"Ash" She whispered

"What is it Mist?" Asked Ash

"There's something I need to tell you." Began Misty nervously. "I've been hiding it from you for a long time now…"

"Don't be so nervous." Encouraged Ash "Whatever it is I'm sure it's no big deal."

"Well it kind of is." Said Misty Ash looked at her expectantly and she lost herself in his eyes once again finding the encouragement she needed to continue. "For the longest time Ash I've been in love with you."

Ash just stared at her. He looked at her eyes pleading with him to respond. His mouth twisted into a smile. Not a happy smile but a cold cynical smile. "And?" He asked

"What do you mean and?" Asked Misty "Aren't you going to say something?"

"Oh yeah," He said as if he'd just realized he'd forgotten something. "I love you too Mist." He said mockingly before bursting out laughing. "That is the funniest thing I've ever heard. You love me? I suppose you hoped I'd love you back?"

"What are you saying?" Asked Misty "You're saying you don't love me back?"

Ash just laughed some more taking in the hurt expression on her face. "Are you kidding?" He asked incredulously "How could anyone love a scrawny runt like you? You've done nothing but put me down time and time again. Always calling me dense or stupid. Why would I even consider you in as a romantic prospect?"

"You're right Ash" Said Misty sadly "I should have known better. I just hoped that you might feel the same way."

"Sorry to disappoint you." He said not sounding sorry at all.

"We're still friends right?" Asked Misty the desperation clear in her voice.

"We never were friends." Said Ash "The only reason you followed me around is because of some stupid bike. As soon as you got it back you were gone. You never cared about me or helping me achieve my dream. So to answer your question no we are not still friends because we never where to begin with."

"You can't mean that Ash!" Yelled Misty

"I can and I do." Said Ash coldly "I want you gone Misty. Get out of my life!"

Misty was devastated. She'd poured her heart out to this boy only to have it smashed to smithereens without a second thought. How could she have been in love with someone so callas, cold and inconsiderate. She turned to Ash who had his finger pointed northward back toward Cerulean City. She walked right up to Ash and looked him straight in the eyes. All she saw in his brown orbs was spite and bitterness. After Six years of what seemed to her to be friendship she couldn't believe that he could discard it like yesterdays trash. She felt overwhelming anger. This rage was unparalleled with any she'd felt before. Her right hand tightened into a fist and she struck him square in the jaw with a devastating right hook. "BASTARD!" She shouted "I follow you around giving you all the support I could for nearly five years and this is how you repay me after I share one of my deepest secrets with you? I was wrong Ash Ketchum. I don't love you. I HATE you. You are the most selfish bastard on the face of the planet. You don't have to tell me to leave because I'm doing it on my own. Goodbye Ash!"

Suddenly everything was being covered in a thick red mist. Misty could hear several voices calling to her trying to get her attention. She walked toward the voices and found herself back in the cavern with her pokemon.

"Misty!" They cried in relief

"We saw you go in and then it closed up!" Said Corsala almost in tears "We thought you weren't coming back."

Misty looked around at the faces of her loyal pokemon. None of them knew what she had just had to go through. Her worst fear was of telling Ash how she felt about him and for what just happened to transpire in some form or another. She did feel a sense of closure though. Since she had now faced that fear she felt more confident that she could deal with it in reality. She had faced her most painful grief and came to terms with it. She'd faced her worst nightmare of leaving her most precious pokemon to a horrible fate. She'd conquered another of her most painful memories. Her parents' death and her sisters' constant ridicule. Now she finally felt the pain ease. It was still there and she didn't know how long it would take for it to completely go away, but now it was bearable.

"Psyduck come here." Said Misty

"Huh?" Said Psyduck He walked over to his trainer "Yes?"

"Sorry Psyduck." Said Misty. She raised her fist and struck Psyduck full force on the top his head.

"HEADACHE!" Groaned Psyduck in pain. His eyes started glowing pale blew once more and he unleashed a monstrous psywave hitting everyone in the chamber.

…

Misty opened her eyes to see the worried face of the Cainwood Clinic's nurse. "Are you alright dear?" She asked

"I'm fine." Said Misty "Just fine."

…

**A/N: MAN THIS CHAPTER WAS FREAKIGN LONG. I was not expecting for it to be this long, but o well. Please Review I'd greatly appreciate it.**

**Until Next Time… **


	11. Mission Incompetent

Mission Incompetent

Archie stood in the submarine dock of Slateport City. After years of waiting it was finally time for the awakening. He had the Red Orb thanks to his newest elite agent. He knew all that he needed to do in order to awaken Kyogre and he had the means in order to reach the underground cavern in which the beast was slumbering. He turned to his subordinates and began the speech he'd been waiting years to recite.

"My friends, we are on the brink of a new era. No longer will we have to suffer the injustices of a world ruled by land dwellers. Lord Kyogre will rise up from the depths and purge this world of all its impurities. We shall unleash our god's fury upon the masses and no one, not even Magma and their false god Groudon will be able to stop us! Onward my friends, TO VICTORY!"

James groaned inwardly. He knew that the moment of truth was coming soon and he hoped he was going to be able to pull it off. Even after his recent successes the years of failure still left a mark on his self esteem. He just hoped nothing went wrong.

…

Maxie stood at the foot of Mt. Chimney. The time was now. Soon his master would be awakened and the new age would be brought into the world. He was confident. He had the blue orb thanks to his new top admin. He knew the whereabouts of Groudon and he knew exactly how to awaken his master. He turned to his subordinates and began the speech he'd waited years to recite.

"My friends, we are at the dawn of a new era. Soon Lord Groudon shall be unleashed to purge this planet of the parasites of the deep. Groudon shall rise up and wreak havoc upon the oceans freeing the land from their watery hold. Groudon shall crush all who oppose his will including Aqua and their false god Kyogre. Onward warriors, TO VICTORY!"

Jessie was filled with anticipation. This was her moment to shine. All she had to do was wait for the exact moment throw the master ball and claim her prize. Nothing could go wrong and she would finally be back on top. She'd show that bitch Cassidy once and for all who was the better operative.

…

"What do you mean there's now submarine in Slateport?" Asked a very annoyed Ash "I paid good money for this ticket to Sootopolis and here I am stuck in Pacificlog Town. This is a nice place and all but I got a Gym badge to win."

"Listen sir." Said the receptionist at the dock's ticket counter. "We're sorry for your inconvenience, but there's nothing we can do. Someone stole the sub and I'm afraid the only way your getting into Sootopolis is if you swim there!"

"No need to be a smart ass!" Yelled Ash "That's all you had to say in the first place."

"I'm not the one who came barging up to the counter and yelling like an enraged Primeape!" Yelled the receptionist "You trainers think you can just run around and get whatever you want just because you have a few balls with monsters inside. Well guess what other people have jobs to do as well and don't need spoiled little trainer-brats like you messing up an otherwise pleasant day of work…"

The receptionist went on and on about how much her job sucked, her life sucked and last but not least how much Ash himself was the worst piece of trainer shit ever to walk the face of the Earth. Ash was used to it. He'd been stuck in this town for the last week because the submersible ferry from Mosdeep had malfunctioned. He was then told that there would be a submarine coming from Slateport to pick up any travelers going to and from Sootopolis. Now he was being told that the submarine, which was supposed to be coming from Slateport, was now missing. All in all it had not been a good week. Ash resigned to walk back to the Pokemon Center. _I suppose I'll try calling home again. I wonder why I can't get an answer._

…

The undersea cavern which housed Kyogre was very cold and extremely damp. The cave was home to several Zubat and deep sea pokemon such as Speal and Chinchou. The terrain was very slippery and rugged. This of course did not bode well with James. He was using all his will power to keep from complaining about the lack of light and dangerous footing he was forced to endure. It was times like these when he missed the good old days of flying in a Meowth-head balloon chasing the twerp, staring at Jessie when she wasn't looking and her skirt rode up above her-

"Commander Jim!" Yelled Archie

"Sir, Yes sir!" Said James snapping to attention.

"Take some men and scout that tunnel over there." Ordered Archie

"Affirmative!" Shouted James. He picked some grunts at random and took the path he was instructed to scout.

This particular tunnel was a bit less treacherous then the others. It seemed to have some sort of light source at the end of it as well. James continued walking until he came to a very large cavern with several sapphires embedded throughout the walls. In the middle of the cavern was a very large and very deep looking pool of water. The pool was outlined in what looked like pure sapphire. A large shadow could be seen at the bottom of the pool almost invisible but clearly distinguishable if looked at closely.

'This must be it." Said James. He pointed to a grunt and gave an order. "You go and inform lord Archie of what we've found."

"Sir" The grunt gave a salute before running back down the tunnel.

It was almost time.

…

Mt. Chimney was a desolate place. There where smoke vents all throughout its immense caverns as well as bubbling pits of lava. The ground was over all solid but very hot. Only people with special gear and the strong Fire-type pokemon could hope to brave this barren wasteland. Team Magma traversed the volcano heading into the depths of the crater. Jessie was beginning to get annoyed. She had just bought these designer combat boots complete with stiletto heals and they weren't doing much as far as comfort. She missed the day when all the walking she had to do was in the occasional forest or field. She really missed the Meowth-head balloon.

The precession of Magma agents continued down the pathway to the bottom of the crater much to the dismay of Jessie. _Can't they install and elevator in this hunk of rock. _She complained to herself. _The boss better appreciate all the hard work I'm doing just to get him a super-powerful pokemon. Wait super powerful pokemon?...I can capture this thing and use it to start my own evil reign! _She smiled to herself at the realization that she could finally be on top of the world by capturing Groudon.

After about another 30 minutes of walking the group finally reached the bottom of the crater. Once there they found a large set of double doors embroidered with rubies. Maxie ordered some grunts to open the doors and after much struggling they finally managed to push them open to reveal a large room with several support pillars made entirely out of rubies. Sitting in the center of the room was a boiling vat of lava, surrounded by yet more rubies and housing an altar with an indentation for some kind of orb, was waiting for them. Maxie smiled triumphantly. "Today is the day!" He declared "Groudon shall arise and conquer!"

_That's what you think. _Thought Jessie as she withdrew the master ball from her jacket. _The moment of truth is almost here._

…

("I see your thirty and raise you twenty more!") Exclaimed Bulbasaur

("I see your fifty and raise you twenty five!") Said Pikachu

"Yous two got nothing" Said Meowth "I see your seventy-five and raise you a hundred!"

("Fold") Said Croconaw. He hadn't been winning much at all this game.

("Me too") Said Bulbasaur ("I don't have enough chips to keep going.")

("I match your 175 Meowth!") Said Pikachu ("I have a royal flush!") Pikachu smirked Nothing could beat a royal flush. ("Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, all Hearts!")

"Dat's nothin'" Said Meowth "Five of a kind! All Aces!"

Meowth began reaching for the pile of chips after laying down his cards. He got about an inch away from them before he was hit with a Thunder Shock.

("There's no such thing a 'five of a kind!' Cheater!") Yelled Pikachu. He looked at Meowth's cards and saw that there where three normal Aces and two very strange looking cards. One had an ornately decorated 'R' in the middle with an 'A' in each corner over a smaller 'R'. The other card had Meowth's smiling face in the middle with an 'A' in each corner over smaller versions of the center head. ("Who do you think we are Jessie and James?") Asked and indignant Pikachu.

"Will you guys cut it out!" Asked a very peeved Ash. He still couldn't get an answer from Pallet. He'd tried his mother, Gary and some other neighbors and he couldn't get an answer. "Meowth stop cheating you're setting a bad example."

"The kids are asleep so I can do what I want Twoip!" Said Meowth referring the ball of fur on one of the beds that was Dawn and Mune curled up together.

("Do you want me to send you blasting off?") Asked Pikachu ("Because I swear to Mew I will shock you so hard-")

"Pikachu leave him alone." Said Ash "Meowth if you expect to get any more free meals from me you'd better start showing a little respect. My name is ASH not 'TWOIP', got it?"

"Sure thing Twoi- er Ash" Said Meowth nervously. Being annoying was one thing but missing any more meals was down right out of the question.

("You still can't get an answer Ash?" ) Asked Pikachu after grabbing all of his winnings and shoveling them into Ash's Backpack.

"Nope." Sighed Ash "No one's answering I'm really starting to get worried. The last time I called it said 'number unreachable due to technical difficulties'"

Ash got up and flicked the TV on. It was now raining outside and there was no purpose in going out anyway. Pacificlog town was suspended over the ocean by several piers connected to each other by rope bridges. Apparently the main piers were secured to the sea floor by some type of metal beams, but Ash couldn't see them. He wanted out of this town as soon as possible. If the submarine transport didn't get fixed soon Ash was seriously considering going to Mauville and catching a chopper to Sootopolis.

A sudden news story caught Ash's attention.

"_Reports from the Kanto region indicate that a town on the southeast side of the island known as Pallet has been…"_

The TV was suddenly shut off after a strike of lightning hit the building.

("It wasn't me!") Said Pikachu noticing the glare Ash was sending his way.

_Why did it have to happen now? What happened to Pallet? _

…

Archie took the Red Orb and approached the alter overlooking the large pool. He placed the orb in the indentation and stepped back. The orb started to glow and the room suddenly took on a red hue.

"Kyogre!" Said Archie "I possess the Red Orb! Awaken and aid me with your divine might!"

The water began to ripple. Then the large shadow at the bottom began to become more distinct. Suddenly the pool began to ripple more violently and the room began shaking. Kyogre suddenly broke the surface. Kyogre looked around until it's eyes met those of Archie. The sea beast slowly swam to the edge of the pool stopping right in front of the Alter.

James realized that this could be his only chance. He withdrew his master ball from his pocket and enlarged it to full size. Without a second thought he threw the master ball straight for Kyogre. Kyogre still had its eyes closed and opened its mouth for a very large yawn. The master ball sailed through the air and went straight down Kyogre's throat!

James was shocked. Of all the ways for him to fail, and he knew there were plenty of them, that had to be the most humiliating he could ever think of.

Archie turned and glared at James. "Jim what the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked his voice seething with quiet fury "Tell me you did NOT just try to capture Lord Kyogre!"

"I didn't just try to capture Lord Kyogre, Sir!" Whimpered James in a most pathetic display of cowardice.

Kyogre now opened its eyes and upon seeing the Red Orb which was the symbol of its advisory it went into an unbridled rage. Kyogre unleashed a horrifying Water Spout that caused the roof of the cavern to rupture and gallons upon gallons of seawater to come pouring in. Kyogre floated out of the water and headed toward the whole in the ceiling, but not before inadvertently snagging a horrified James with one of its huge fins. James clung to the beast for dear life as it headed toward the rushing ocean water.

"Everybody get to the sub now!" Ordered Archie

…

Maxie held the Blue Orb in his hands and slowly secured it into the groove on the alter. The room was illuminated by a blue light and the rubies throughout began to glow a bright red.

"Lord Groudon!" Chanted Maxie "I have brought the Blue Orb! Awaken and lend us your power to so that we may smite or enemies!"

The vat of lava began to bubble violently and everyone closest to the edge abruptly jumped back. The lava vat suddenly erupted in a violent shower of molten rock hitting several unfortunate grunts and burning them to cinders. As the lava receded the large red form of Groudon could be seen standing on top of the lava as if it were dry land. He looked at his surroundings and met the eyes of the one who awoke him.

Jessie didn't hesitate to throw her master ball. The ball sailed through the air only to be burned to ashes by a sudden lave geyser from the side of the pool.

Maxie was in shock. "Jessica?" He said disbelief evident in his voice "You would betray me at this the time of the awakening?"

"I knew she was no good!" Said Tabitha, Maxie's right hand. "She always did look suspicious."

Their argument was cut short because Groudon set eyes on the Blue Orb, the symbol of Kyogre. The land guardian roared in outrage and called forth all of his power making the ground shudder violently. Groudon suddenly levitated a large slab of rock and jumped on top of it. Unfortunately for Jessie it was the slab had been the ground she was standing on. She shrieked and moved out of the way as the great red beast landed in front of her. Groudon seemed not to notice its passenger as it elevated the rock toward the top of the volcano.

The ground continued to shake even after Groudon had left the area. Team Magma tried desperately to get to the top of the crater before the impending eruption took place. They wouldn't be so fortunate.

…

The citizens of Lavaridge looked on in awe as Mt. Chimney erupted in a spectacular display of molten rock and burning ash. Thankfully for the small community, the wind was blowing to the west sparing their town a most horrible fate. They looked on in awe unaware of the horrible screams of pain which echoed through the caverns of the mountain as the lava rose toward the surface.

…

"Pick up…pick up…" Pleaded Ash to the phone.

There was a beeping tone before a mechanical voice came over the line. "We're sorry due to technical difficulties your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later, thank you."

"Damnit!" Yelled Ash as he slammed the phone down.

The power was out but the audio phone still functioned. He didn't know what the news report was going to say about Pallet, but since he could get no answer from anyone he knew in town he could only suspect the worst.

…

**A/N: Well that's done. Hope it was at least half way enjoyable. As always please let me know what you think and I'll be sure to update as soon as I can.**

**Until Next Time…**


	12. Midnight Massacre

**A/N: I am very happy with the amount of support I am getting for this fic. After the dramatic failure of my first fic having four constant reviewers is nice.**

**Ri2: I can't lie. The Groudon and Kyogre scenes was influenced by Latias' Journey but not totally. It was also inspired by how similar pokemon ruby and sapphire are. You do basically the same thing in both games except in ruby you fight Magma and in sapphire you fight Aqua. The awakening scenes in the games are almost exactly the same in my opinion. That last one with Misty worries me too. What did I do! As for Pidgeot not helping Gary, Well…**

**Thebenjamin-Thanks for sticking with the fic and I'm glad to see you're enjoying it.**

**Cdfe88-I like your enthusiasm concerning this fic.**

**Antithesis-It is getting pretty massive isn't it? Hope I don't write myself into a wall. Shouldn't happen though since I have most things planned out, I think.**

**As always any reviews are appreciated. They are what make me update quickly. I know you people didn't click this to read me rambling on so…**

Midnight Massacre

Pidgeot pulled herself from the rubble of what had once been the home of her former trainer. The fact that there was rubble remaining was a good considering most of the town was little more then smoldering cinders and heaps of ash. The destruction wasn't the most noticeable thing though. The ground was littered with hundreds of corpses. Among them was Delia Ketchum. Pidgeot couldn't help but feel shamed. She was probably one of the strongest non-legendary flying pokemon in Kanto and yet even after giving it her all she'd only accomplished to save a few pokemon from dieing. She wasn't sure if being captured by Team Rocket was better then death, but it was the only comfort she could take. It had all happened so quickly…

…

_The Night Before_

…

It was a peaceful night in the town of Pallet, most nights were. Professor Oak sat in Delia Ketchum's kitchen sipping a cup of hot tea. Mimey was busying himself by washing the dishes while Delia sat across from the professor.

"Samuel you can't sit around here depressed for the rest of your life." Said Delia "I know the pokemon at the lab meant a lot to you, but you have to be strong."

"The lab was my whole life." Said Oak sadly "I spent over 50 years researching pokemon. I was 15 when I started, just like Gary." The thought of his grandson did manage to cheer him up and bring a few positives to his mind. "I'm just glad Tracey was on the errand in the Orange Islands. He could have been hurt had he been at the lab."

"What I don't understand is why Team Rocket killed all of those poor pokemon." Said Delia. "They captured most of them but the old ones like Tracey's Scyther or the ones that where sick they just…" She trailed off unable to think back to that horrible incident. "It was bad enough they attacked the Gyms, but then we found out about the Champion and the Elite Four. Put the destruction of the lab on top of that and…"

"Delia can we change the subject please." Said Oak interrupting his friend's ramblings "How is Ash doing?"

"Last I talked to him he said he was heading to Sootopolis City to get his last badge for the Hoenn League." Said Delia "I'm glad he's focused on training. It'll keep his mind off what's going on here."

"Mime Mime Mime Mr. Mime?." ("You'd think that wouldn't you?") Muttered Mimey from the sink.

"Quiet you!" Snapped Delia

"He has a point though Delia." Said Oak "Your son is one of the most stubborn people I know. Gary told me that he was trying to find a way back home."

Their conversation came to an abrupt end when an explosion was heard in the distance followed closely by screams of panic and loud shouting.

"What was that!" They both asked. They both ran to the window and gasped at the scene outside.

…

("Ma'am!") Said a scout Pidgey returning from his daily patrol. ("The Spearow flock are at it again!")

Pidgeot sighed in exasperation. This would be the eleventh time in one week that the Spearow had caused trouble. ("What is it this time?")

("They were seen heading toward Tojo Falls") Reported the scout ("They were harassing a trainer and his Scizor.")

("The whole flock or just Fearow?") Asked Pidgeot

("A good deal of them Ma'am plus Fearow.") Said the scout

("Inform the Pidgotto that I have gone to take care of the situation.") Ordered Pidgeot "Everyone else should stay behind to guard the eggs and the weaker Pidgey.")

The Pidgey gave a salute with his wing and flew off to do his leaders bidding. Pidgeot was more then angry by this time. Over the years since Ash had asked her to stay and guard the Pidgey and Pidgeotto she'd become much stronger. She'd managed to form the bird pokemon into an organized army so-to-speak. They had managed to push the Fearow off of Route 1 and get them all the way to Route 27 which lay east of Veridian. The birds' main base of operations was still the tree a bit to the west of Pallet Town. The tree was very large and it was easy to defend during the first few battles against Fearow and his flock.

Pidgeot was flying no more then five minutes when she saw the smoke coming from Pallet accompanied by several pokemon and human war cries. Although her mission at the moment was to help the distressed trainer and his Scizor, Pallet appeared to be in more danger. Without a second thought she changed course toward the burning town.

…

They were everywhere. Team Rocket members, dressed in their traditional black uniforms, ordering their pokemon to demolish buildings and attack panicking townspeople. It utterly disgusted Brock. Why was he here? What were they making him do? He was also wearing a black uniform with to Rocket logo on his chest. He'd sent out Onix and Graveler ordering them to demolish a building here and there just to keep attention off of himself. Normally Brock would never dream of doing something this horrible, but Giovoni had his entire family plus the rest of his pokemon. Brock knew that if he did anything in front of these Rocket loyalists that contradicted his orders the people he cared about would suffer. Looking around at all the innocent people being hurt and killed he had to wonder if it was worth it. Were the lives of his brothers and sisters worth more than the lives of the people being slaughtered now? Would his siblings want him to do this just to save them? All Brock had to do to answer his question was think back to the torture of his Crobat. The Rocket Bastards had wanted to prove a point. They'd decided to use Brock as an example since he showed the most defiance when ordered to go on this mission. They'd taken all the captives into one of the battle arenas and made them watch as Brock's pokemon was beaten, stabbed, burned and mutilated by a sadistic looking woman with silver hair. Bashou was her name if Brock remembered correctly. He hated her, he hated all Team Rocket and most importantly he hated himself for what he was doing now.

"Slate!" Yelled Creig "Send your pokemon to ransack that house over there!"

He pointed to a house surrounded by a white picket fence and a beautiful rose garden. The house was white with a red thatched roof. Brock instantly knew who's house it was, but thinking back to the possibility of one of his siblings or the other captives suffering the same fate as his Crobat he complied with the order.

"Onix." Brock addressed his pokemon with no emotion present in his voice "Use Take Down on that house over there."

…

Professor Oak suddenly grabbed Delia and pulled her away from the window. He was just in time to avoid a massive horned head as it crashed through the wall where they'd been standing. The Onix plowed through the house wreaking havoc. The once spotless kitchen was now a mass of broken wood and twisted sheet rock. Mimey was infuriated by the unwrought destruction of the kitchen he'd worked so hard to make spotless. He let loose a Psychic blast hurling the Onix back through the wall from wince it came unintentionally causing even more structural damage. The Onix hurled itself back at into the house and was now joined by a Graveler. The two pokemon prepared to unleash devastating Earthquake attacks, but were stopped in their tracks when a brown blur slammed into the Onix with a Steel Wing sending it crashing into the Graveler.

Pidgeot glared at the two rock-pokemon. She recognized them and knew to whom they belonged. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the squinty-eyed man standing behind the now ruined fence staring intently at the house.

Brock was surprised at the sudden turn of events. He'd expected the resistance from Mimey, but Pidgeot's arrival seemed to come out of nowhere. He took his attention off the house and turned to face the large avian. "Onix use Earthquake to collapse that building." Ordered Brock still in a monotone "Graveler take care of that Pidgeot."

Pidgeot prepared herself for the ensuing battle by taking to the air. Rock pokemon may have an advantage tanks to type, but they couldn't hit something that was too far away. Pidgeot waited for Onix to begin using its Earthquake. She studied its form closely before tapping into her Mirror Move ability. She then positioned herself to face the majority of Rockets and their pokemon. Heading to the ground at top speed she unleashed a terrifying tremor. Graveler was not prepared for such an attack especially from a bird. The weeks of malnutrition and poor treatment combined with the force of the attack proved too much for the rock pokemon and it fainted.

Brock was secretly relieved. He was glad Ash had trained his pokemon well. The last time Pidgeot had fought Graveler all those years ago at Pewter Gym his pokemon had won with no difficulty. This time he'd been defeated by one attack. He looked around and saw that Onix was still attacking the Ketchum residence. He hoped that Mimey was able to take out his rock serpent.

Inside the house Mimey was having trouble with taking out the large pokemon. Since Mr. Mime where primarily defensive pokemon and since Mimey didn't have much experience in battling Onix was proving to be more then a match. Professor Oak was trying to get Delia out of the house.

"Delia please we need to get out of here!" Pleaded Oak

"I can't abandon Mimey!" Said Delia "He's like one of the family!"

"Mimey wouldn't want you to get hurt." Reasoned the professor "He's fighting to give you a chance to get out of here!"

Delia watched as her loyal pokemon friend struggled to keep a barrier up against Onix. She could tell that it was only a matter of time before the shield shattered and Mimey took a hit. Seeing the devotion and courage of her faithful friend Delia resigned to try and escape.

Seeing as the front door faced toward most of the carnage outside. And Onix was in front of the 'doors' it had made in the wall, they decided on using the back entrance. They got right up to the door when it was suddenly blown inward sending them flying back several feet. The door landed on top of Delia who had been in the lead and it knocked her unconscious. Oak stared at the snarling visage of a Rhydon. The beast was accompanied by a woman who had short blue hair and pale green eyes.

"Well this is a surprise." Said Fiona her voice tinged with glee "The world famous professor Oak. You know your grandson was causing our boss a lot of trouble. It's a good thing he's being taken care of." She smirked at the look of horror on the professor's face.

"What have you done to Gary?" Fumed Oak "If you've hurt him I'll-"

"Do absolutely nothing." Said Fiona "Not that you could if you wanted to mind you."

'You bi-" Started the professor until he saw another Rocket with long red hair carrying the Limp form of a young woman with brown hair. '-May!"

"That's right old man." Said Creig "Now come quietly or say goodbye to your granddaughter."

Oak sighed defeated and walked over to the two Rockets. Fiona took out a teaser and put it on Oak's neck. He was instantly knocked out by the sudden shock. Creig picked up the limp form of the professor and hoisted him onto his other shoulder.

"We got what we came for." He said "Let's end this."

Fiona nodded and took out a Master Ball.

…

After letting loose the Earthquake attack Pidgeot had drawn several of the Rockets attention away from tormenting the townspeople and was now engaged in battle against three Hitmontop and a Magmar. The Hitmontop were no problem. A few Whirlwinds sent them flying. The Magmar however proved to be a much stronger opponent. It's trainer was a bald headed man with crimson eyes. This was Blaine former Cinnibar Island Gym Leader. The Magby that belonged to his precious Magmar were his leverage. After seeing the mutilation of Crobat he had sworn not to let that happen to the children of his beloved pokemon.

"Magmar hit it with a Sky Uppercut!" Ordered Blaine.

Normally a Magmar couldn't learn such a devastating fighting technique, but after Blaine had lost to Ash's Charizard he and Magmar had started working on techniques to overcome flying pokemon. Magmar charged up her fist and bent her knees while taking careful aim at the bird pokemon. Pidgeot didn't wait to see if the attack was going to hit. She began flapping her wings frantically sending a raging Gust attack at Magmar. The spitfire pokemon wasn't phased by the strong gust of wind and pushed off into the air flaming fist aimed straight for Pidgeot. The attack was so fast that Pidgeot didn't even have time to stop the Gust attacks. Magmar slammed into her with a flaming fist right in the chest. The bird Pokemon went flying through the air spinning in circles. Ignoring the burning pain in her chest she righted herself and flew right back at Magmar barreling into the fiery pokemon with a devastating Aerial Ace. Magmar crashed to the ground several feet away from the point of impact and struggled to get back on her feet. Pidgeot was intent on ending this fight and hit Magmar again with a Double-Edge attack. The impact sent Pidgeot tumbling through the air again, but it did manage to take out Magmar. Blaine recalled his fire-pokemon and prepared to call out a second one. Pidgeot didn't wait to see what would come out because she turned her attention back toward the Ketchum residence upon seeing Onix come tumbling through yet another wall crashing at the feet of its trainer.

…

Mimey whipped the seat from his brow. Onix had eventually broken through the barrier but the snake wasn't prepared for the Hydro Pump Mimey released. Thanks to slowly using Metrenome while the barrier was in place Mimey got lucky and was able to release one of the most powerful water attacks. After Onix had been drenched and thoroughly weakened Mimey used the last of his strength to blast the serpent back out of the house with a Psychic attack. Now that the intruder was taken care of it was time to find Delia.

He found his mistress sooner than expected. Just as he was heading to the back door he found her trapped underneath it. He ran the fallen form and hefted the door off of Delia's prone form. He started to pull her away from the wreckage. He didn't get to far before he heard a very terrifying sound.

"TREEEESSSS!"

…

Moltres soared over the small hamlet releasing several gouts of flame in his wake. His orders were to burn it to the ground and that's what he intended to do. Taking a deep breath the flame pokemon let loose a massive Fire Blast. The five pointed star of flame grew as it approached the town below. The Rockets scattered while the townspeople looked on in fear. Pidgeot saw the attack coming and quickly moved away. The flames descended from the heavens raining down on the once beautiful community. As soon as they touched something it burst into flames causing the already raging fires to increase to ten times the size they had been. Nothing was spared the wrath of the flames as they danced around the buildings of the town.

Mimey had managed to get close to one of the holes left by Onix when the flame shower had hit the house. The already damaged structure immediately started to collapse. A beam of wood suddenly fell to land right on top of Mimey's head. Already being severely exhausted the barrier pokemon collapsed in a heap.

Brock saw it all happening. He had moved away when Moltres released the Fire Blast but he was now back in front of Ash's house trying to figure out some way to get Delia out. He may have been being forced to do despicable things but he was not going to let his best friend's mother die right in front of him. Brock ran toward an opening in a wall and tried to get inside. The flames were too hot and he was forced to back away. He saw the beam hit Mimey and was now desperate to try and save the woman who had treated him like a son ever time he came into her home. He was interrupted from his strategizing when Creig saw what he was doing.

"Slate what do you think you're doing?" Sneered Creig

Brock thought quickly. If he couldn't get Delia at least he would try to save someone. "That's a rare pokemon in there!" Yelled Brock over the raging fires "We can't let one of those slip away from us!"

"You're right kid." Said Creig thoughtfully. He had had his doubts about Giovoni's plan to 'sway' the Gym Leaders to his side but seeing the results he was impressed. "We can't use a pokeball so how do you plan on catching it?"

Brock smiled to himself. Not many people knew that Mimey had come to live with Delia of his own free will making him technically a wild pokemon. "Just give me a pokeball!" Yelled Brock he could see the fire was beginning to rage even more and the house was on the verge of collapsing. Creig complied not seeing any harm in letting Brock try and handed him an empty pokeball. Brock took careful aim and threw the ball at Mimey's prone form. Upon contact with the ball Mimey was condensed into red energy and transferred into the pokeball. He didn't even have the strength to resist the capture and the ding of the pokeball sounded. Before Brock or Creig could figure out how to get the ball a large brown bird swooped down and sent both men flying away with a massive whirlwind.

Pidgeot wasted no time in going into the flames trying to save its former master's mother. Her efforts were in vain however because as soon as she got into the house there was a loud groan fallowed by a resounding snap. The entire house crashed down around and on top of Pidgeot the flames still burning incessantly. Pidgeot had just enough time to use Endure before the once beautiful home became a smoldering pile of wood and stone.

…

_Now_

…

Pidgeot circled what was once called Pallet town. Now the best description for it would be Pallet Ruins or possibly Pallet Graveyard. It seemed no one had survived the attack save herself and whatever pokemon Team Rocket captured. Pidgeot returned to where the Ketchum house once stood. She sifted through the rubble trying to find Delia hoping that just maybe she had survived. It was hard work going through the rubble a lot of it was still burning thanks to the mystical properties bestowed on them by Moltres. Eventually Pidgeot found what she was looking for, but any hope of Delia surviving was dashed when the bird saw that she had been impaled through the neck by a wooden beam. Not too far away from Delia Pidgeot found a red and white sphere which was miraculously still in tact. Remembering that Mimey was inside the pokeball Pidgeot picked it up and headed back toward her colony of bird pokemon. She'd been unable to stop the destruction of Pallet and all she could feel was shame.

…

**A/N: Oh my god I killed Mrs. Ketchum and almost all of Pallet! BRUAHAHHAAHHAHA (Cough, Cough) anyways hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter another one should be up fairly soon. Please leave any comments and complaints with the rude receptionist from the last chapter or better yet leave a review.**

**Until Next Time…**


	13. The Mourning After

The Mourning After

A lone rattata scampered along the path at the bottom of Tojo Falls. It was looking for a quick meal and there were usually some stupid travelers who left their bags unattended. Speaking of unattended bags a pack could be seen in the brush not far away. The little mouse pokemon went up to it and sniffed it cautiously. The bag suddenly began to shake and in a flash of red light a monstrous Nidoqueen stood poised for attack. The rattata thinking it was most likely a wise idea to run shot off at full speed in the opposite direction.

Nidoqueen looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. She was at the bottom of a waterfall, thankfully not in the water, and standing near Gary's bag. She remembered the last orders he'd given her: "If I don't call you out of your ball in time for breakfast pop out and do whatever you can to find me." Is what he'd said. Nidoqueen jumped when she saw another flash from the bag. Out cam Umbreon who stretched tiredly. He looked pretty tired and considering Gary had been making him attack Titanium reinforced steel door the evening before it was understandable.

("Where are we Nidoqueen?") Yawned Umbreon

("Don't know") Answered Nidoqueen ("All I know is that we're at the bottom of a water fall and I see no sign of Gary.")

("Where do you think he could be?") Asked Umbreon. It was a rhetorical question because Umbreon knew she had no Idea. He began to concentrate letting his senses flow around the surroundings searching for the familiar presence of his master. He felt several unfamiliar human presences around the area and he finally found Gary. ("He's not to far away from here. Should be right on the other side of the bank. Now if you'll excuse me it is past my bed time and I am really tired.")

("It's just after sunrise how can you…?") She trailed off remembering Umbreon was a nocturnal pokemon. Umbreon crept back to his ball and went inside. Nidoqueen returned the ball to the pack and fished out another one. She hit the release button and out came a very beaten up Blastoise. ("What happened to you!") She asked astonished at the many bruises that adorned Blastoise's body.

("Nidoqueen, Thunder") He muttered dejectedly ("Where's Gary?")

("He should be on the other side of the river.") Said Nidoqueen ("Or at least that's what Umbreon said.")

("I suppose you want me to carry you and the others across?") Asked Blastoise. Nidoqueen nodded and returned to her pokeball. Blastoise sighed ("All I ask is a little rest after a hard battle, but can I get it? NO!") He picked up the bag holding it by the handle since the straps were broken and began to make a trek across the river."

…

Gary had been awake for some time. After falling from Scizor's grasp and riding the falls to the bottom he had to swim himself and a very heavy Scizor to shore. Right after he'd done that fatigue had overcame him and he collapsed. Now he just lay by an unconscious Scizor staring at the burning sun. He couldn't see it but he could smell a faint sent of smoke on the air. He didn't know how he knew but he did. The smoke was most likely drifting from whatever remained of Pallet Town. He'd been unable to make it home and warn everyone of the impending danger they where in so to believe that his hometown was destroyed seemed very plausible to him. _Damn that fucking bird. _He thought aiming every bit of hate and contempt he had toward the Fearow who had knocked Scizor out of the sky. If Team Rocket hadn't attacked the lab he most likely would've had a better flying pokemon. Scizor was good for battles, but for transport something like a Pidgeot or even a well trained Gyrados was more effective. Gary suddenly stopped thinking when he heard voices not far from his position.

"How does the boss know that kid is even down here?" Asked one

"Tracker he had slipped on one of his pokemon during the battle." Said the other. "Arcanine I believe it was."

Gary's breath caught in his throat. He knew the voices belonged to some Rockets and according to them somehow Giovoni had managed to get a tracker on Arcanine. _Had to have been right after that Horn Drill when his Nidoking slammed Arcy. _Thought Gary. _I'd better get up and try to get out of here before they find me. _He pushed himself up ignoring the pain in his joints and walked over to Scizor's sleeping form. "Hey Scizor its time to go!" Whispered Gary urgently. His pokemon groaned but opened its eyes and shakily stood. "You're ball's back in my pack so we need to find that and I can let you have a proper rest."

"Sciz" ("Yeah") Said Scizor weakly. The Sky Attack had taken a lot out of him. He was on his last reserves of strength and along with several of Gary's other pokemon he needed to get to a pokemon center badly.

Gary slowly crept around the area trying to get a glimpse of his pursuers. He had heard more than just the two voices but he couldn't discern what the others where saying. Gary could see several black silhouettes in the distance and decided to turn the other way. As soon as he turned around he almost wished he hadn't. Now standing in front of him where four armed Rockets each with a sub-machinegun aimed at him.

"Looks like the game's up little boy." Smirked what seem to Gary to be the leader of the group. It was hard to tell they all looked the same with their shades and caps on. "The boss said he wants you alive, but if you make any sudden moves we will not hesitate to shoot."

"You guys are bastards you know that." Groaned Gary. "What do you want from me anyway?"

"Good question." Said the grunt "I don't really know we just have orders to bring you in."

Only Gary seemed to notice the shadow the suddenly fell over the Rockets but he didn't show any reaction to it. "What makes you think I'm going with you?" He asked indignantly

"You don't really have a choice in the matter you little punk!" Snapped one of the other grunts. "If you refuse we're gonna turn you into Swiss cheese!"

"Well I am kinda hungry." Taunted Gary

"That's it!" Said the first grunt "Any last words punk?"

"Take Down!" Said Gary

The grunts looked confused. That is until they where suddenly trampled by a raging Nidoqueen and a not so raging but still very pissed Blastoise. Gary quickly ran over to the grunts and grabbed one of their discarded guns. He wasn't adept at using a firearm but now was as good a time as any to learn. He took his bag from Blastoise's mouth and took out Scizor's pokeball. After returning Scizor and convincing Blastoise it was fine if he rested Gary and Nidoqueen set off to find an escape from the Rockets surrounding the area

…

Cianwood was a very beautiful Island and was home to a nice subtropical climate. Under normal circumstances Misty would have greatly enjoyed the weather. Right now however, it was the last thing on her mind. She'd seen the news report that morning about the destruction of Pallet and the fact that no survivors were found. She had liked Pallet town it was a very peaceful place great for taking breaks from a long journey or just a nice place to visit period. The people were usually friendly and Misty had never had a quarrel with anyone in the town. She'd usually visit Delia often to get away from her sisters once they'd returned from their trip around the world. She'd grown to look at the woman as if she were her own mother and to find out that there were no survivors in the town hurt almost as bad as when her own parents had died. The difference between then and now was that then she hadn't really understood and now she knew all too well what death was all about. In addition to the new found grief she was in turmoil over her own thoughts. When she'd entered that last room in her mind it had started out like a dream. Then it had ended in a total nightmare. Every time Misty thought of Delia she would think of Ash and thinking of Ash would make her think of the scene that had played in her mind. She tried to put it off as something her negative feelings had manifested much like the room with Togetic, but it just wouldn't go away. Seeing the scorn in his gaze and hearing the hurtful words he'd said. It was almost too much to bear. She had to keep telling herself that Ash was a good friend and that he'd never say anything like that even if he didn't reciprocate the feelings she had for him. She finally resolved to put Ash out of her mind and focus on the here and now. She was in the pokemon center to check on Gyrados.

"Hello and welcome to the Cianwood City Pokemon Center." Said Nurse Joy cheerfully. "Do your pokemon need healing?"

"No, I'm here to check on one that's already here." Said Misty "A Gyrados?"

"You mean that beast belongs to you!" Asked Joy astonished. She couldn't understand how such a young girl could be the trainer of such a fearsome pokemon. "He's in the containment pool out back. I have to warn you that he has been acting very violent since he regained his strength. The Chansey have to use Sing every time we administer antibiotics or even a simple Potion!"

"Gyrados doesn't like needles." Misty said quietly. She was glad her pokemon was okay but she was a little embarrassed at how many problems he's caused.

She followed Nurse Joy through the back doors of the center and into what looked like a large swimming pool with a double reinforced steel alloy gate surrounding it. In the middle of the pool Gyrados floated peacefully. As soon as Nurse Joy came within two feet of the gate Gyrados awoke and started to tackle the gate in hopes of getting to the annoying human who kept putting him to sleep.

Misty took immediate action. Strolling right up to the gate she let out an ear piercing whistle that got the blue serpent's attention. "Gyrados! Calm down and stop giving Joy a hard time!" Misty yelled at her rampaging pokemon. Gyrados was thoroughly cowed by Misty's order and sank back down into the pool. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

("Sorry') Said Gyrados

"And?" Said Misty. Gyrados could detect the danger hidden in Misty's voice so thought of the appropriate response quickly.

("I was just worried about you, they wouldn't tell me anything!") It wasn't a whole lie. He was worried about his trainer, but that wasn't the reason he was trying to attack Joy. He swore if he ever got those Chansey of hers alone

Misty noticed the far away look in her pokemon's eyes and the drool coming from his mouth. "Whatever you're thinking you'd better forget it right now." She said her voice carrying an unspoken threat that once again left Gyrados thoroughly cowed.

"You really have him well trained." Commented Joy "He should be ready to leave by now his injuries are basically healed. Although he does have what looks like a permanent scar on his underbelly."

Misty studied Gyrados closely and saw a large white gash just a few feet under what would be his neck. Thinking back she realized that the gash must have come about from the collision of the Return and Frustration attacks. In addition to the death of Starmie that scar would serve as a constant reminder of those horrid events of that day.

After returning Gyrados to his pokeball Misty headed back to where she was staying for the time being. After hearing her situation the nurse at the hospital, whose name Misty learned was Dianne, told her that after her release she could stay with her for a while until she figured out what to do about her predicament anyway. Misty stopped by a shop window where a TV was broadcasting a news bulletin of particular interest.

"_Kanto authorities are investigating the mysterious attack on Pallet Town as we speak. The number one suspect seems to be a former pokemon trainer said to have gone off the deep end after loosing to his rival at the Johto Silver Conference a few years ago. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Shigeru Oak they are asked to contact authorities immediately."_

…

Far away from Cianwood in the pokemon center in Sootopolis City, Ash Ketchum watched the same news ad with utter disgust. After finally getting word that the submerge system was repaired and then having to deal with the receptionist who seemed to have eternal PMS Ash had managed to make it into Sootopolis the night before. For some reason the storm outside hadn't lessened much and if anything it seemed to have intensified after he'd arrived inside the city. As soon as Ash got into the Pokemon Center he'd flipped tried to call home again and received no answer. He then found a TV and caught the story about Pallet on an international news channel. Two phrases from the news caster kept repeating themselves over and over again inside of his head. _…completely destroyed…No survivors… _His mother was gone, Professor Oak was gone. Misty and Brock were most likely gone too. The news tried to say that Gary had attacked Pallet, Ash couldn't believe that. He and Gary had been friends for the last couple years after the Silver Conference and Ash knew that Gary loved Pallet town just as much, or if not more, as much as Ash did. There was no doubt in Ash's mind that those responsible for the attack were the same ones responsible for destroying the Gyms and killing the Elite Four. Team Rocket.

Ash walked quietly from the lobby into the room he had checked into for his stay in the city. Gym battles didn't seem to important right now. Nothing did. He had little reason to go home now. Home was gone.

…

Brock sat in his quarters inside the Team Rocket headquarters. His accommodations were only marginally better than his cell. About the only difference was that instead of having to sleep on the rock-hard floor he could sleep on an iron-hard cot. Also instead of one rotten meal a day now he got 3 half-rotten meals a day. Life was really looking up!

His current living situation was the last thing on his mind however. He was busy drowning himself with his own sorrow. How could he have let Delia die? How could he have ordered his pokemon to attack innocent people? How could he ever face Ash again knowing that he was partially responsible for killing his mother?

The only comforting thought in all of his sorrow was thinking of Misty. They had told all the other captives that she had died during an accident in a battle. Brock thought differently. He'd overheard a few Rockets talking about having to search for the escapee. At least someone had managed to get away from all this. She didn't have to be forced into committing deplorable acts nor demean herself as a human in general. Brock let his thoughts drift to his friends and all the good times they'd had. These were the thoughts that finally allowed him to get some much needed rest.

…

Gary had managed to eventually loose the Rockets and he was now at the edge of New Bark Town. He remembered that there was a pokemon rejuvenator in Professor Elm's lab so that was where he'd head. Elm was a long time friend of his grandfather so Gary was sure that he'd let him use the machine to heal his pokemon. Arcanine still needed to get to a proper pokemon center but rejuvenation would help. He reached the door of Elm's lab and knocked on it loudly.

Inside the lab Elm had fallen asleep at his computer. This wasn't an unusual occurrence for the professor since he often overworked himself and rarely ever slept in his bed. He groggily made his way to the door muttering a quick "Coming" to whoever it was. When he opened the door he gasped when he saw a very bedraggled looking Gary Oak. He didn't realize it was Gary of course since he hadn't seen him in over three years. "May I help you?" Yawned Elm

"Professor I need to use your rejuvenator." Said Gary "And if you have a minute my Arcanine's in bad shape."

The urgency in Gary's voice was enough to fully wake the professor and he ushered Gay inside. If Elm wasn't awake he was when Gary pulled out nine pokeballs! "Why are you carrying more then six pokemon young man?" Asked Elm "You do know that it's illegal don't you?"

"Long story professor, I'll tell you later." Said Gary

Elm nodded and took six of the nine balls and put them in the rejuvenator. "It will take about an hour for the Machine to finish so why don't you explain to me why you're carrying so many pokemon and why you look like you've just climbed out of a river." Said Elm

…

Misty knew that once she did what she was about to do there was no turning back. Dianne had said that if she expected to travel around she needed to do this and few more things. Holding the scissors in one hand and the better part of her long red hair in the other she made three quick cuts and it was off. Now her once back length red hair barely brushed past her neckline. Now for step two. She took the hair dye and began rubbing into her now short red hair making sure to let it penetrate to the roots. After finishing the application process she let the dye sink in and dry. Looking in the mirror she could barely recognize herself. Her skin was slightly tanned and her hair was now almost as dark as Ash's. The only thing that could be recognized as being hers was her eyes.

"Well don't you look different?" Said Diane from the bathroom doorway. "I know how much you liked your long hair but trust me this is necessary. I do wish you'd go to the police about this but it's your decision."

"Thanks Diane." Said Misty "You know you didn't have to help me like this I would've been alright. Not that I don't appreciate it or anything it's just that you're going through so much trouble and-"

"Nonsense Misty." Said Diane "You may have gotten a few miles but you and I both know that Team Rocket has members in Johto. And if what you told me is true, and I'm sure it is, you need all the help you can get. Now we need to do something about your eyes."

'Huh?" Said Misty "I figured I'd just wear a pair of sunglasses or something."

"Those won't do." Said Diane "These will work a lot better." She pulled out a small box with purple contact lenses inside. "Their the kind you only need to change once a week. They're supposed to be gently on the eyes and allow plenty of moisture in, so comfort shouldn't be a problem."

Misty took the contacts and put a pair into her eyes. They didn't really bother her because like Diane had said they were made to be comfortable. She looked in the mirror and no longer saw Misty Waterflower this person looked almost nothing like her aside from the facial similarities.

"What do I call myself?" Wondered Misty aloud

"Up to you dear." Said Diane "My advice is to make it something you can remember easily."

"Well in that case…" Misty thought for a moment on a name. She wanted something that still described her but didn't rightly give herself away. After a moment she had it. "Aquaria Tsunami."

"Well that's original." Said Diane "Now that you have a name where are you going to go _Aquaria_."

"I think I'll head to Goldenrod." Said Aquaria

"Why Goldenrod?" Asked Diane

"That's where the Magnet Train station is, and it's the only way back into Kanto." Said Aquaria

"Why would you want to go _back _into Kanto?" Asked Diane astonished

"I need to see for myself." Said Aquaria sadly "I knew quite a few people in Pallet. I have to see it with my own eyes."

"I understand dear." Said Diane "I know you probably didn't want me to but I took the liberty of getting you a pack. I put a few days food in it along with a change of clothes. I know it isn't much but I want you to take the bike beside the house."

"You have a bike?" Asked Aquaria. She remembered the last bike she'd had and that brought up memories of it getting destroyed shortly after she'd gotten it.

"Yes I used to use it when I lived in Olivine City." Said Diane "I don't really need it on this small island so I want you to take it. It'll make your trip a lot easier especially since you won't be taking to many main paths. You may look different now Misty but it's still better if you have the least amount of contact with people as possible. Someone might recognize you even now.'

"Yeah, you're probably right." Said Aquaria "Diane I really appreciate this and I swear I will pay you back for this someday."

"I told you it's not a problem." Protested Diane "You don't need to worry about paying me back. Keeping yourself safe is payment enough."

"Yeah but-" Started Aquaria

"The ferry to Olivine leaves in half an hour I suggest you hurry up unless you want to spend another night here." Said Diane

Aquaria hugged the woman and thanked her again for helping her. She went outside and got the bike from beside the house. It was a very well built mountain bike, good for rugged terrain and able to get good speed. Aquaria got on the bike and headed north toward the city's dock. It would be different traveling alone but she knew where she was going and there was no Ash to get her lost. She could only hope that when she got to Kanto she'd find something that would help ease the pain she felt.

…

("You can't just lay in here all day Ash!") Yelled Pikachu ("I know you're sad and probably really mad too, but it's been almost two days!")

He got no response from Ash who just lay there thinking about how he'd never see his mother's smiling face again or how she'd never scold him or remind him to wear clean underwear everyday. The little things he'd taken for granted about his mother seemed to be all the things he thought about now. How it felt when she would hug him or hearing her words of praise whenever she'd watch one of his battles. Pikachu and the other pokemon had been trying to get him out of his depression, but they weren't doing a very good job.

"Leave the twoip alone Pikachu." Said Meowth "He'll stop moping when he's ready."

Ash still didn't respond even to being called a 'twoip'.

("He hasn't eaten in two days Meowth he needs to get up and do something!") Pikachu thought for a minute and than came up with a sure fire way to get Ash up. ("Ash if you don't get up right now I am letting Onix out of his pokeball!")

Ash didn't respond but he did get up and walk over to his bag. He took out an Ultra Ball and his poke'dex and hit a few buttons. The Ultra Ball disappeared and was replaced by a Lure Ball. "Fine Pikachu I'll eat something if you win the Gym battle."

("You're gonna battle?") Asked Pikachu amazed ("I thought you said the badges were worthless.")

"They still are, but since you seem to have so much energy and won't leave me alone about doing something I think it's the only thing I can do in a situation like this." Said Ash.

("We get to see the Gym?") Asked Mune who until the topic of the Gym came up had been playing a game of tag with Dawn.

"If you come with me now then yes." Said Ash

("Ash I'll come if you promise that you're going to give it your all in the battle and not just have us do whatever.") Said Pikachu ("Promise Ash?")

"Pikachu why do you have to make everything so hard?" Asked Ash

"Pikapi…" Said Pikachu his cheeks sparking a bit

"Okay I promise." Said Ash "Happy now?"

("Very.") Said Pikachu

"Well yous guys have fun Meowth's gonna get a cat nap in." Said Meowth with a yawn.

"No you're coming to." Said Ash

"But why?" Asked Meowth incredulously. Ash pointed to Dawn and Mune who were scampering back and forth in front of the room door. "Right I have to baby sit while you battle."

"Yep." Said Ash

Thinking about the upcoming battle put the sorrow in the back of Ash's mind. He didn't need to think much about Pallet or the people who'd died there. All he needed to think about was getting a Rain Badge. They made their way out of the pokemon center and headed to the Gym.

…

**A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. The next chapter will probably be up very soon and will mostly be about Ash's Gym battle. Keep your eyes out for it and as always please leave all questions and comments in a review.**

**Until Next Time…**


	14. Let it Rain

**To the Reviewers:**

**Cdfe88: Was you're comment referring to the length of this? If so I hope you don't mind reading a LONG fic. At the rate I am going this is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 150k words if not more by the time it's finished.**

**Ri2: No you haven't destroyed Pallet yet. But you've done your fair share of evilness, not necessarily to Ash but it's still evil. As for the spelling mistakes I could have sworn that I hit the 'W' key when I was typing SWEAT although it did come out to be SEAT and MSWord wouldn't kept saying that taser was a misspelling so I wrote and I read the suggestion wrong and thought it said taeser but it said teaser.**

**Anyway, ON WITH THE STORY**

Let It Rain

As soon as Ash stepped out of the pokemon center he noticed that the storm was now much worse than it had been. The rain was coming down in sheets. The city was built with several drains since it did rain a lot around the area, but the drains were already working to capacity and overflowing. In the distance Ash could see the Gym standing on a solitary island in the middle of the city. He couldn't make out exactly what it looked like but he did notice it was huge. He approached one of the canoes and addressed the man who was tying it up.

"I need to get to the Gym!" Yelled Ash over the rain.

"Are you crazy?" Asked the ferryman "I'm not going out in that!"

Ash had to admit that the water looked anything but calm. Normally he would just turn around and wait for the storm to clear up. However, in his current state of mind he just wanted to battle in order to clear his mind. "Just let me barrow it." Said Ash "I'll be careful."

"It's your funeral kid." Said the man. He handed Ash the ors and headed off to get out of the rain.

("Maybe he's right Ash we should probably just wait.") Said Pikachu

"You wanted me to do something so I'm doing it." Argued Ash "Don't complain."

"Meowth! I hate water!" Cried Meowth who continued to get drenched.

("It's not so bad Meowth.") Said Dawn who had taken a perch on Ash's left shoulder

("Yeah and I'm keeping your head dry so you shouldn't have much to worry about.") Said Mune who as he stated was riding on Meowth's head.

Ash pulled out a lure ball and called out Croconaw. He handed the big jaw pokemon the loose end of the canoe's tether and pushed the boat into the water. The group piled into the boat and Croconaw began toeing the boat toward the center of the city. After several nearly capsizing several times and getting severely drenched Ash and the pokemon finally made it to their destination.

Ash was awed by the site of the Gym. It looked like a very large dome and was all blue. The rain cascaded down the sides and formed massive waterfalls. The rain badge symbol was painted on the thick double doors. Ash pushed on one of the doors and was surprised that it was actually open. He was half expecting to need to knock on it several times. He walked into a hallway decorated with several statues of water and ice pokemon. There were all the evolutions of the spheal chain as well as a few Gyarados and Milotic. Ash finally came to an iron gate with a button and speaker beside it. He hit the button and waited. And waited…and waited.

"HEY IS ANYBODY IN HERE!" Yelled Ash

He waited again and finally he could've sworn he heard someone whispering "If I keep quiet maybe he'll leave me alone…Shit I'm on the intercom button. Uh, May I help you?"

"Finally!" Yelled Ash "I'm here for a Gym Battle."

"Do you have an appointment?" Asked the person over the intercom

"Since when do you need an appointment for a Gym Battle?" Asked Ash

"Since now!" Yelled the voice again.

"Hey look man; I am not in the mood for this crap." Said Ash "I've had a bad couple of days and I challenge the Gym Leader to a battle. League rules state that the Gym Leader must accept ALL challengers, so tell whoever it is that runs this place to get his sorry ass out here!"

("Calm down Ash") Said Pikachu ("Can't you see he's just trying to irritate you?")

"Well it's working." Snapped Ash

"The Gym Leader will be with you in one moment."

"About time." Muttered Ash

The gates swung open and Ash walked into a huge pool arena. Looking up the cloudy sky could be seen through the clear dome. At the other end of the room another gate was being raised. Behind the gate stood a man wearing all white with a white cape. He had blue eyes and bluish-silver hair. He wore a pearly white grin and he had an air about him that immediately told Ash he wouldn't like him. Ash had almost the same feeling seeing this man as he had had years ago while on Trovita Island. Thinking about his match with Rudy automatically brought memories of Misty which in turn brought up anger which Ash channeled before it could lead to sorrow.

"I am Wallace leader of the Sootopolis City Gym." Said the man confidently. "I'd ask you your name but I don't really care, since you'll be leaving very shortly."

Now Ash was sure he didn't like this guy. "You don't have to be so rude you know!" Snapped Ash. "I won't even bother telling you my name anyway since I'll be leaving very quickly with the badge."

"I admire your confidence rookie." Said Wallace "This will be a four on four pokemon match. You do have four pokemon don't you?" He added the last part simply to rile up Ash.

_This guy's almost a bigger asshole than Gary, and that's saying something! _Though Ash to himself. "I won't even dignify that with a response." Said Ash "Let's start this battle!"

"Alright then, Milotic I choose you!" Said Wallace

A long pink snake-like pokemon came out of its pokeball and landed on Wallace's side of the field. Milotic waved its beautiful rainbow tail fin around and looked up at the rain cascading down onto the dome.

"You want me to open the dome Milotic?" Asked Wallace. At a nod from his pokemon he snapped his fingers and suddenly there was a grinding noise. The dome began to separate and the torrential downpour was now coming right into the arena. Milotic cooed in happiness as it absorbed the rain into its regal body.

Ash didn't even comment about the unfairness of having a rainstorm in affect in an indoor water-pokemon based arena. He simply took out a pokeball and threw it onto one of the platforms. Bulbasaur materialized and viewed his surroundings. It was raining, there was a Milotic in front of him and he was in the middle of a pool. He looked at Ash with a look that said "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" and turned back to Milotic

"Let the battle commence!" Said Wallace. "Milotic end this quickly with an Ice Beam!"

"Bulbasaur jump to another platform! Then counter with Razor Leaf" Ordered Ash

Bulbasaur obeyed not wanting to get hit with the super-cold beam. He barely managed hop to the other platform before the Ice Beam tore through his former position. Bulbasaur unleashed his Razor Leaves and sent them straight toward Milotic.

"Mirror Coat!" Ordered Wallace

Milotic took the brunt of the attack before sending it right back at Bulbasaur at twice the speed and power. Bulbasaur screamed in pain as the leaves sliced into his abdomen leaving fairly deep gashes in their wake. Now both pokemon were heavily damaged but still willing to fight.

"Milotic Twister!"

"Bulbasaur wrap it up with your Vine Whip!"

Milotic began swishing its tail around in the water creating small cyclones which were steadily turning into large water spouts. Bulbasaur wrapped his vines around Milotic as the twisters began to make the platforms move around the pool.

"Bulbasaur use Mega Drain!"

"Milotic Endure!"

Bulbasaur used his vines to sap energy from Milotic thereby recovering his own depleted strength. Milotic was barely able to hang on thanks to the use of Endure, however it was far from over.

"Milotic Recover!" Commanded Wallace.

"What?" Asked Ash. He had no idea Milotic could use that ability.

"That's right Rookie bet you didn't see that one coming." Taunted Wallace

Ash growled before giving his next command "Bulbasaur! Solar Beam!"

("What are you doing Ash?") Asked Pikachu ("Don't you know it will take forever for him to use that in a rain storm!")

"Oops." Said Ash as he blushed in embarrassment.

It was too late to recall the order because Bulbasaur was already gathering sunlight in his bulb. He still had his vines wrapped tight around Milotic's middle and as the graceful pokemon swam Bulbasaur was pulled along for the ride. The tender pokemon made it a point to dive underneath the twisters in the pool to cause Bulbasaur more damage. Slowly but surely sunlight filtered through the clouds and gathered inside the bulb on Bulbasaur's back.

"Milotic Dive and don't come up until that thing lets you go!"

"Bulbasaur tighten your vines and hold your breath!"

Milotic dove underneath the water taking Bulbasaur along with it. The Solarbeam was still charging and as Milotic swam a bright ball of light could be seen from the bottom of the pool. The light grew brighter and brighter until the water started to give off steam.

Ash knew Bulbasaur hated to loose and wouldn't fire unless he was sure the beam would take out his opponent. However Ash did not want his pokemon to drown so he gave Bulbasaur the order to fire. There was a brilliant blast of white and yellow energy as Bulbasaur released his super-powered Solarbeam. The beam of light slammed into Milotic so hard it caused Bulbasaur to loose his grip and come flying out of the water and go smashing into a wall on the far side of the pool. Milotic didn't fair much better since it had taken the attack full force at a very close range. Its limp body floated to the top of the pool with several burns on its pretty coat.

"You'll pay for ruining my Milotic's flawless shine!" Roared Wallace angrily. "Gyrados time to play!"

Wallace's monstrous Gyarados emerged onto the battlefield. Ash had seen many a Gyarados in his time as a trainer, but this Gyarados was a lot bigger than any he'd seen to date. Normally these pokemon were around 21ft long. This one towered at around 31ft long. Ash however was thinking of a sure fire way to beat this monster of a water-pokemon in one easy move.

"Bulbasaur return!" Ash said as he recalled his fallen friend from the field. "Pikachu it's time to see just how strong you are."

("You want me to fight THAT!") Asked Pikachu in horror. The mouse knew he was strong, but he couldn't help but have his doubts about something almost 30 times his size.

"You've beaten plenty of Gyarados Pikachu." Said Ash confidently "Besides look at the sky." He added quietly

Pikachu then realized what Ash was planning and confidently jumped off his perch on Ash's shoulder and onto a floating platform.

"That little rat can't beat my ultimate pokemon!" Laughed Wallace. He continued laughing while giving Gyarados its next order. "Finish that little sucker with a Hydro Pump!"

"You know what to do Pikachu." Said Ash confidently.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked violently as he gathered energy for his most powerful attack. With the storm raging above the pool and the amount of water present there was no way Gyarados was going to avoid this attack.

"PIKAAAAAAA!" Yelled Pikachu "CHUUUUUUU!"

Wallace immediately stopped laughing when he saw the power of the Thunder Attack. The attack was so strong it would've made Zapdos jealous. A huge Thunderbolt came crashing down and hitting Gyarados with pinpoint accuracy. There was no time for the beast to even release his Hydro Pump and he collapsed in a heap making tremendous waves in the pool. Pikachu used his Agility to avoid being knocked into the water as the waves came crashing into the platform he'd been standing on.

Now Wallace was upset. No upset was to weak a word. Wallace was now totally furious. "You're going to pay for that you little rat." Said Wallace dangerously quiet. "Let's see you try that against this!" He threw a Great Ball onto the field to reveal a Whiscash. Like the Gyarados this pokemon was a lot bigger than normal. It looked about as big as a Wailmer.

Ash was confused at how Wallace expected to beat Pikachu with another water-pokemon until he pulled out Dexter that is.

"Whiscash, the Whiskers Pokemon" Chimed the machine "This water/ground type pokemon is capable of unleashing powerful tremors of up to three miles in diameter. Whiscash will eat any living thing if it invades its territory."

_Uh oh _Thought Ash _Whiscash is immune to electric attacks and Pikachu can't afford to get too close to it because he'll probably get crushed, but if I recall Pikachu I can't use him again. _"Pikachu that thing is immune to electricity, do you still want to battle?" Asked Ash.

("Of course I do!") Said Pikachu ("I can still beat it!")

_What a 180 first he was afraid of something he had two type advantages over and now he wants to battle something that is immune to most of his attacks. _"Okay buddy if you think you can do it." Said Ash

"Whiscash Earthquake!"

"Pikachu you should be okay if you keep moving around, Agility!"

Whiscash dove to the bottom of the pool and slapped its tail onto the floor. The resulting shockwave caused a horrifying tsunami which caught Pikachu who was valiantly trying to avoid being knocked into the water. Now that he was in Whiscash's domain Pikachu was completely open for attack.

"Whiscash Double Edge!" Sneered Wallace

His pokemon slammed into the electric mouse ruthlessly sending him out of the pool and flying into toward the opposite wall.

"Pikachu push off the wall and use Iron-" Ash didn't get to finish his order because Pikachu already slammed into the wall.

The impact made all present wince in sympathy, except for Wallace and Whiscash that is.

"Ow, Dat's gotta hurt" Commented Meowth.

("Poor Pikachu.") Said Dawn

Mune just looked on in silence. He wanted to battle. In the two years he could remember being on his own he'd only been in a few battles here and there, but every time he'd been in one he'd manage to somehow win. He didn't know what he could do against something like that Whiscash but he wanted to at least try.

("Ash can I go in next?") Asked Mune

"Are you crazy?" Asked Ash "If I sent you in there you'd most likely drown before you even got close to him." Seeing the hurt look on the Eevee's face Ash amended his statement slightly "What I mean is this is a battle for more experienced pokemon. I'll let you battle next time."

("Fine") Said Mune. He turned his attention back to the battle and waited Ash to call out his next pokemon.

Ash only had one logical choice for his next pokemon. There were two possibilities so he picked the one better suited for the situation at hand. "Sceptile Go!" Yelled Ash as he threw Sceptile's pokeball toward the pool. Sceptile popped out of his ball and took out his trademark twig. He put it in his mouth and took up his fighting stance.

"That lizard is going to be a pushover.") Taunted Wallace

("You're mama's a pushover!") Yelled Sceptile.

Of course Wallace didn't understand him but, Whiscash did. The pokemon provoked by its opponents insult to its master charged Sceptile intending to hit him with a Double-Edge. Grovyle was ready and sliced the whisker pokemon with a well aimed Leaf Blade knocking him back several feet.

"I didn't tell you to attack him yet Whiscash!" Yelled Wallace "Wait 'til I give you orders before jumping the gun next time."

"Nice job Sceptile." Praised Ash "Use Bullet Seed to finish it off."

"Whiscash dive!" Countered Wallace.

Sceptile took a deep breath and then aimed a powerful blast of charged seeds right at Whiscash who did manage to dive, but being submerged in water didn't save it from the high impact projectiles. Whiscash fainted once the barrage ended and Wallace was forced to recall it and send out his last pokemon.

"I have to admit Rookie I had my doubts about you at first." Said Wallace "But now I see you're really a strong trainer. What's your name?"

"Ash, Ash Ketchum" Said Ash. He didn't say it with any of the confidence or determination he usually displayed. He just stated it in a monotone.

"What's the matter don't like your name?" Asked Wallace once again trying to rile Ash up. "I could see why. Your mother must have been on drugs to name her kid something stupid like that."

Now Wallace had crossed the line. It was one thing to insult Ash, thanks to traveling with Misty for four years and being at odds with Gary he was used to hit, but you DID NOT insult Ash's mother especially now that she was dead. The fact that Wallace didn't know she was dead didn't matter to Ash all he wanted to do was wipe that smug look off of Wallace's face once and for all.

"Call out your last pokemon." Said Ash seething with quiet fury.

"Impatient aren't we?" Asked Wallace sarcastically "Walrein I choose you!"

The rather large ice break pokemon came out of its ball with an intimidating roar. Sceptile was unimpressed and said a few choice words to Walrein trying to get under its many layers of skin.

"Sceptile slice it to bits with a Leaf Blade!" Roared Ash

"Walrein let it get close and use Blizzard!"

Sceptile rushed at the heavy pokemon its arm-leaves glowing brightly. As the forest pokemon prepared to slash with his attack Walrein opened its mouth and unleashed a vicious Blizzard Attack. The attack instantly froze Sceptile in a large block of ice.

"Sceptile! No!" Shouted Ash

Ash returned Sceptile to his pokeball and thought about his remaining choices carefully. He reached into his jacket and took out another pokeball. This one contained Silver. He'd talked to the Lugia quite a few times while in Pacificlog Town and found out that he was a very strong pokemon despite his age. Silver had agreed to act as any of Ash's other pokemon would and obey any orders he was given in battle. Ash was just about to release the Lugia when he looked in horror at the pool. Standing on one of the central platforms poised for battle was none other than Mune

("I'm ready Ash!") Said the Eevee confidently.

"An Eevee against my Walrein?" Asked Wallace highly amused. "This should be over quickly. Walrein use Blizzard one more time!"

Now it was too late to recall Mune so Ash had to think quickly. He'd never trained an Eevee before and only battled them a few times. He remembered fighting Gary's Eevee and thought quickly for an attack to use.

"Mune use Quick Attack to dodge it!"

Mune complied by jumping from platform to platform all the while dodging the high powered snow assault headed his way. He finally managed to get close to Walrein and slammed into the walrus as hard as he could. The attack did little damage but it did manage to stop the Blizzard attack. Mune bounced off the thick layer of fat and landed gracefully on a nearby platform.

While Mune had been dodging the attacks Ash had pulled out Dexter once again and was now checking to see what attacks this Eevee possessed. He was more then a little impressed at what he saw. Apparently Mune knew seven attacks. Quick Attack, Tackle, Body Slam, Curse, Double Team, Wish and of all things Shadow Ball. Ash figured whoever Mune's parents had been at least one of them had been a well trained pokemon. Ash also noticed something else about the little pokemon. If what Dexter said was correct he only needed to give Mune one little push…

"Mune I know you can do this." Said Ash "Take Walrein out with a Shadow Ball!"

"Can he use dat?" Asked Meowth. His question was answered when the crest on Mune's forehead began to glow and a black ball of energy started to form.

"Walrein blow the attack back with an Icy Wind!" Ordered Wallace

Mune released the Shadow Ball attack and sent it shooting toward Walrein. The ice break pokemon inhaled deeply and released a powerful gust of arctic wind trying to push the attack back at Mune.

"Mune Double Team!" Commanded Ash

Mune complied by making several copies of himself and positioning them around the field. Now the Shadow Ball shot harmlessly through one of the fake images.

"Walrein, hit them all with a Surf attack!" Yelled Wallace

"Mune use Shadow Ball again!" Countered Ash

Walrein started to swim in the water at top speed making a huge wave in his wake. Meanwhile Mune charged up another Shadow Ball. The ball of negative energy seemed to come from all directions thanks to the Double Team. Walrein continued on its course thinking that the real Mune was behind it. Unfortunately for Walrein Mune was in front of him and the Shadow Ball hit him full force. Walrein flipped backwards out of the water and landed with a huge splash soaking Wallace's expensive white attire.

"Great job Mune." Said Ash. He was genuinely impressed by the little pokemon. "I knew you could do it!"

Mune was overjoyed. ("Yea I beat a big Walrein this is the happiest-") He was cut off as he was surrounded by a bright white light.

("What's happening to him!") Asked Dawn in horror.

"He's… He's…" Stuttered Meowth

("Evolving") Said Pikachu who had finally woken up from his battle with Whiscash. He looked to see that Ash wasn't very surprised. ("You knew didn't you?") He asked his trainer.

"Dexter said that he was close to evolving. All he needed was a nice jolt of happiness."

Back in the pool the white light finally dimmed to reveal a very dark purple Espeon with a moon crest in the middle of the ruby on its head.

Mune looked around confused. ("Hey, when did this platform get so small?") He asked confused ("And what was that bright light just now?") He got a glimpse of his reflection in the water and gasped. ("Is that…me?")

("Yea Mune you just evolved into an Espeon.") Said Pikachu

("Is that a good thing?") Asked Mune

"Yea now you can use psychic attacks." Said Meowth knowledgeably. He may not have a poke'dex but he knew his pokemon.

They all turned to look at Wallace as he cleared his throat. "Nice trick using a pokemon you knew was ready to evolve." He said "But this isn't over yet. Walrein, wake up!"

Walrein rose from the water looking perfectly healthy. Ash realized to late that it had been using Rest in order to revitalize itself.

"Mune use Morning Sun!" Commanded Ash

Mune didn't know how he knew how to do this technique but he knew none the less. Since it was still pouring down rain outside not much sunlight could be used for the move. It was still enough to reenergize Mune though and the battle began anew.

"Walrein take it out with an Ice Beam!"

"Double Team Mune then use Confusion!"

Walrein fired its Ice Beam and again Mune used his Double Team to avoid the attack. Once out of danger he concentrated and unleashed a psychic blast on Walrein. The attack sent Walrein flying once again and this time he landed on one of the platforms causing it to sink into the pool.

"Now Mune use Double-Edge while it's out of the water!" Commanded Ash.

"Walrein pull yourself together!"

Mune raced across the floating pads quickly and put all his force into the attack. Now that he was twice his former size the attack did manage to do some serious damage and Walrein finally fainted.

"I don't believe this." Said Wallace "You actually beat my Walrein with an Eevee!"

"Espeon" Said Mune

"Whatever" Muttered Wallace as he returned Walrein

"Good battle Wallace." Said Ash

"You too Rookie." Said Wallace "I am proud to give you the this Rain Badge as proof that you have defeated me."

Wallace began to make his way around the pool toward Ash when a shadow suddenly swept over the open dome. As the shadow passed a terrified womanly scream could be heard.

"That sounds like a poor damsel in distress!" Shouted Wallace

"I'd know dat scream anywhere." Stated Meowth

"Really who was it?" Asked Ash curiously

"James."

…

**A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. Hope the Gym Battle was enjoyable and look out for the next chapter very soon. As always please hit the little 'Go' Button while the box says 'submit review'**

**Until Next Time…**


	15. Ancient Enemies Shall Clash

**A/N: I have heard in a couple of places that doesn't want authors responding to reviews in their stories. I have not seen an official notice about it on the front page so until I do I will keep responding to the reviews like I've been doing. If the site would like me to stop just tell me and I will. **

**Antithesis-You skip the battles most of the time? That's kind of weird, but I am glad you enjoyed the one in the last chapter.**

**Ri2-I took your suggestion about enabling anonymous reviewers. To be honest I didn't even realize it was disabled. Don't worry about me updating so quickly. I am not putting my fingers in jeopardy. It only takes me like an hour to actually type these chapters and I don't have anything better to do at the moment. If it makes you feel any better pretty soon I won't be updating as fast since my life is going to get a bit more hectic soon. So while I have the time I am going to continue this story and update it as much as possible. Glad to see you enjoyed the chapters, and yes my Wallace is an asshole :-p.**

…Ancient Enemies Shall Clash…

"Did you say James!" Asked Ash "As in, your former team mate and cross-dressing friend, James?"

"You any one else named James?" Answered Meowth sarcastically.

"Well…" Said Ash thinking about the question. "…No."

"Wait a minute 'James' is a guy's name!" Said Wallace "You mean to tell me that a man screamed like that?"

"Well 'man' is a bit too strong a word." Said Meowth

("Yeah, 'fag' would describe him a lot better") Agreed Pikachu

There was a loud roar from outside and the whole building began to shake violently. The glass which made up the dome started to crack and the storm outside suddenly picked up even more!

"What the hell is going on!" Screamed Wallace over the now raging monsoon.

The building started to shake again and the group decided it was probably a good idea to vacate the premises. They ran toward the entrance avoiding falling rocks and debris. The Gym couldn't take much more punishment. They finally reached the outside as the ground gave another mighty tremor and the building crumbled. The sight that met them outside left them all shocked and speechless. Two extremely large pokemon were battling in the middle of the city. One was a large red dinosaur-like creature and the other looked like a huge blue whale with red markings all along its body. What shocked the group even more were the companions of the creature. Clinging to the whale's rear pectoral fin for dear life was a blue haired man in a Team Aqua uniform. He was screaming for dear life and the scream was very high-pitched. Cowering on the floating rock which the dinosaur was using to stay above the water was a woman in a Team Magma uniform. Every time the beasts clashed the man screamed louder while the woman tried to avoid being crushed by the dinosaur's tail. The rain around the whale's vicinity seemed to come down like a waterfall. While the rain in the dinosaur's vicinity appeared to be nonexistent. Looking closely one could see a circle of blue sky and bright sunlight beating down on the pokemon.

Ash pulled out his Dexter and scanned the two pokemon. "Kyogre the Sea Basin Pokemon." Quipped the machine "Kyogre is said to have expanded the oceans by creating massive rain clouds which produced torrential downpours and caused towering tidal waves. This pokemon has the power to control water and is said to have feuded with the pokemon Groudon in ancient times."

"Good thing that this Groudon isn't around." Said Meowth

"Groudon the Continent Pokemon." Continued Dexter "This pokemon is said to have the power to evaporate water and scatter rain clouds with intense heat. It is said that Groudon and Kyogre damaged a significant portion of the planet with their feuding before being put to sleep by the Dragon King."

"This is bad." Said Wallace stating the obvious "Very…very bad"

…

"They're at it again." Said a small pink pokemon floating around the top of the Sky Pillar "Aren't you going to go stop them?"

"Can't you do it?" Asked the other occupant of the tower. "I really don't feel like babysitting those two right now."

"It's your responsibility." Said the pink pokemon "You let the humans wake them up."

"Well, if you hadn't been following that human around you could've done something." Argued the other.

"He is the chosen one I had to fallow him around." Said the first

"No you didn't you're just looking for a mate!" Countered the second.

"While that may be true…" Began the first "…It isn't MY JOB to stop Groudon and Kyogre from ripping the world apart. It's YOURS."

"Fine you don't need to yell." Said the second "I'll get to hit in a minute."

"You are a disgrace to your heritage you know that?" Said the pink pokemon indignantly "Your father would've never-"

"Leave him out of this!" Interrupted her companion. "I'm not him and he's not me. You do not have to bring him up every time you see me!"

"If you didn't act like such a child I wouldn't." Said the pink pokemon angrily. "When you go down there you may has well put the chosen through his trials."

"What!" Asked the second pokemon astonished. "What am I suppose to do exactly?"

"You'll know when the time comes." Said the first "Don't forget to put on your more omnipotent tone when you talk to them."

"Fine, I get it!" Said the second pokemon. "I'm going down there in a minute so you can go back to watching your little prospect again. Hopefully he won't turn you down like your last choice did."

"That idiot didn't know what he was missing out on!" Said the pink pokemon. "He was just so stuck on himself and his own self pity."

"Whatever, Can you go now?" Said the second pokemon.

"Fine I know when I'm not wanted!" Said the first. She folded her arms and blinked. In a flash of white light she was gone leaving her companion alone on his tower.

"Finally some peace and quiet." Said the pokemon to himself

"_Hurry up and get down there NOW!"_ Said an impatient voice in his head.

"FINE! IF THAT WHAT IT TAKES FOR YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" Said the pokemon. He uncoiled his long body and ascended into the heavens heading toward the clashing pokemon.

…

Back in Sootopolis Ash and his pokemon were desperately trying to stop the rampaging beasts. Ash had transferred Sceptile and Bulbasaur back to storage and took out Swellow and Crawdaunt. After giving Pikachu the only Hyper Potion he had on him he now had a decent squad of pokemon and was going to try to do something many people would deem very stupid and probably unhealthy. He was going to send his pokemon into battle against Groudon and Kyogre. Ash released Silver, Swellow, Crawdaunt and Maganium. Pikachu and Mune stepped up beside their team mates and awaited Ash's orders.

"Pikachu you get on Swellow's back and see if you can't find an opening to use Thunder on Kyogre." Said Ash "Silver I want he to carry Mune Maganium. You think you can handle that?" Asked Ash

"_She does seem a little heavy…" _Started the Lugia

The herb pokemon huffed indignantly ("Are you calling me fat?")

"_No, no." _Said Silver quickly _"I'm just not sure I can carry you…" _

"You can do it Silver." Said Ash. "All you have to do is use your psychic power to lighten her up a bit. Then Bayleef I want you to shower them with your Razor Leaf attack once Silver gets you close."

("That's actually a good Idea Ash.") Said Pikachu genuinely impressed "I'm surprised you thought of it.")

"Now is not the time for jokes Pikachu." Grumped Ash. Deep inside he knew the comment held some validity.

_I wasn't joking. _Thought Pikachu testily.

"Crawdaunt get as close as you can and concentrate on Groudon." Continued Ash "Silver just unleash any attacks you can if you see an opening."

("What about me?") Asked Mune

"You stay back here incase something goes on." Said Ash "Believe it or not that's one of the most important jobs there is."

"He's just saying dat to make you feel better ya'know?" Whispered Meowth

"Quiet Meowth!" Snapped Ash. "Don't listen to him Mune. You him and Dawn are actually all assigned this job."

"What!" Yelled Meowth.

"No time!" Yelled Ash "Jessie and James are in trouble and as much as I'd like to rid of them, not even they deserve this. Ok guys get to it!"

The pokemon starting out their assault on the warring beasts. Each group carried out their orders with precision. Crawdaunt took to the ocean floor as, as that was where the least amount of resistance was from the current. Silver and Swellow were boarded by their passengers and flew in opposite directions trying to flank their respective targets. The backup pokemon were all watching intently. Well two out of the three anyway. Meowth was too busy trying to find a place to hide, so he wouldn't risk getting in harms way.

Wallace thought Ash was crazy, but he couldn't let him take all the credit for saving _his_ city. He called out his only remaining pokemon, Wailord, and ordered it to assist Crawdaunt in assaulting Groudon.

…

James's voice was now hoarse from continually shrieking and screaming "I don't wanna die!" over and over again. His short pathetic life was flashing before his eyes. Being born, taking his first steps, getting beatings by Jessiebell, playing with Growly, beatings from Jessiebell again, running away, joining the bike gang, getting beatings from Jessie, joining Team Rocket, meeting Meowth, yet more beatings, becoming an Elite Rocket, failing to capture Pikachu hundreds of time and receiving more mental and physical abuse from Jessie, and finally his current predicament.

He was about to repeat this cycle when an incredibly familiar sound was heard in over the rain. This sound filled James' heart with the utmost dread.

"PIIIIKKAAAAA…." There was a pause in which electricity could be heard crackling viciously. There was a loud crash of thunder accompanied by a brilliant flash. "CHUUUUUU!"

…

At the exact same time James was reliving his entire life, Jessie was doing much the same thing. All the while trying to dodge Groudon's massive appendages. Her life story was a bit different from her partner's however. There was being born, being abandoned, joining the bike gang, abusing James, leaving the bike gang to join Team Rocket, having her first lesbian experience with Cassidy while in Rocket training camp, accepting the bribe from Butch and several other males to give James sleeping pills and leave his room door unlocked at night, strange sounds from James' room after doing that, loosing her virginity the night she became an Elite Rocket, failing to catch Pikachu over and over again, Doing several 'favors' for Giovoni so she and James wouldn't get killed and finally being snatched up by Groudon and waiting for her tasteless end.

Jessie saw the blinding flash and heard the same horrifying sound as James. Unfortunately for her she felt two familiar pains instead of just one. The first came in the form of razor sharp leaves slashing all across her body leaving several shallow gashes. The second was a torrent of ice-cold water chilling her to the bone.

To add to the already precarious situation of the unfortunate Rockets Groudon and Kyogre had just fired a Solar Beam and Hydro Pump respectively at one another. The force of the combined attacks was enough to cause the both Groudon and Kyogre to falter in there positions. The sudden jerk from the pokemons' positions sent Jessie and James flying toward a cave in the back of the city.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaiiin!" The sang as they sailed into the distance.

Meowth sniffled from his hiding place amongst the rubble of the Gym. _That sure brings back memories. _He thought nostalgically.

Once the effects of the attacks wore off two glared at one another. Each didn't notice the extra pain of the added attacks. They both thought that the others attacks were the only ones used. The pokemon around them used this to their advantage as they powered up for more attacks. This time the warring pokemon decided to simply Body Slam each other, once again sending tremors throughout the city. The signs for the Pokemon Center and Poke'Mart were now floating somewhere in the water. Several houses close to the rim of the city had been crushed with falling rocks from the surrounding mountain and waves continued to crash along the shores of the city.

Ash struggled to remain standing as the waves surged onto the island. He grabbed Dawn and Mune and held them above the rushing water. He didn't know where Meowth had gotten to, but he figured that the ally cat had survived worse.

("I'm scared.") Whimpered Dawn into Ash's chest.

Ash rubbed the little pokemon's back to reassure her that she'd be alright. He looked down at Mune and saw him concentrating on something. He decided to leave it alone seeing as how it must be important for him to be working so intently on it.

Pikachu shocked Kyogre again with a Thunder attack. It seemed like he wasn't even phasing the sea basin pokemon with his relentless assault. He figured it was time for a more direct approach.

("Swellow get me as close as you can!") He called to the flying pokemon.

("I'll do my best…") Said Swellow. He got as close to Kyogre as was possible without being swept into the water by the seemingly endless amount of rain closest to the sea beast. ("This is as close as it gets Pikachu.")

("This'll have to do.") Said the mouse. He took careful aim, making sure the shot would hit it's mark. He waited until Groudon slammed into Kyogre and then he let loose a powerful Zap Cannon straight toward Kyogre's eye! This succeeded in finally getting the large pokemon's attention. He turned away from Groudon and glared at his miniature assailant.

Meganium was trying a similar tactic with Groudon however she was having more difficulty with her mount.

("Can't you fly any higher Silver?") She asked ("I need to get in that stream of sunlight over there!")

("Meganium..huff…your…huff…pretty heavy.") Said Silver ("I'm doing my best to hold us both up psychically.")

Meganium was surprised to hear Silver actually talk instead of using his telepathy. She realized he must really be tired if he couldn't even talk mind to mind. She decided to do something very risky to try and help the small Lugia stay in the air. She concentrated for a moment and formed a seed in the middle of her flower collar just below her neck. She rooted the seed into herself and had the small fines ingrain themselves in Silver's back.

The Lugia hissed in pain when he felt something sharp digging into the space between his wings. ("What the heck are you doing up there!") He yelled. He didn't get an answer and was about to ask again when he felt a sudden surge of energy flow into him. ("What was that?")

("I leach seeded myself so I could send you some energy.") Explained Meganium. "Get us into that sunlight and I should be able to use Synthesis to keep myself from running out of energy to give.")

Feeling his new burst of strength Silver climbed as high into the sky as he could and made his way into the strong sunlight beaming over Groudon's body. The continent pokemon was too busy dealing with Crawdaunt and Wailord to notice the two's actions. Once in the sunlight Meganium started replenishing her strength with Synthesis while sending Silver a burst of energy every few seconds. The herb pokemon also started gathering energy around her flower collar preparing to use her most powerful attack.

…

Pikachu and Swellow were now in an aerial dog fight with Kyogre. The sea beast would fire a stream of water or a beam of ice at the pair only to have it dodged. Then Swellow would circle around by using his Agility and let Pikachu fire another Zap Cannon. After about five times of repeating this process Kyogre finally got sick of playing games. He waited until he had his prey in his sights once more and released a nightmarish Blizzard. The dynamic duo was hit head on by the attack. Swellow went into a nose dive and headed back toward the center island.

Crawdaunt was having a very easy time with Groudon. It seemed as if the land titan was afraid of the water. Every time Crawdaunt or Wailord shot him with a water attack they would dive underwater to avoid being hit with a flamethrower. Fed up with the water pokemon's evasions Groudon focused on the land underneath the water. He caused a humongous chunk of land as well as several smaller pieces to rise out of the water bringing Crawdaunt and Wailord up with it. He brought the floating island close to his position The smaller chunks of rock formed into one giant slab of granite and hovered over the two beached water pokemon. Wailord trembled in fear, being totally immobile out of the water he was totally defenseless, Crawdaunt on the other hand made a beeline for the edge of the floating island intending to jump back into the water. Neither pokemon needed to worry because Kyogre, who was now done with his battle against Pikachu and Swellow, rejoined the fight against his ancient enemy. The sea pokemon crashed through the floating land masses sending Wailord back into the water and hurling Crawdaunt all the way over to the center island to join his other defeated team mates in an in-prompt-to dog pile. The force of kyogre's Body Slam caused the humongous rocks to go smashing into Groudon. The continent pokemon was not pleased and prepared to fire another Solar Beam at Kyogre. Neither of them got the chance to use another attack because Meganium was finally done charging her newly patented Solar Beam Cannon. All the petals around her neck were glowing a bright white and her mouth held a large white ball of energy. She fired the attack and a colossal beam of sunlight tore through the air and crashed into the two titans. The heat of the attack was so strong that it caused the water to evaporate on contact. A cloud of steam rose up and covered the two pokemon blocking them from view. Thinking that her job was over Meganium had Silver return to the island where Ash was standing.

Everyone held their breaths as the steam began to clear. Slowly the two pokemon came back into the view looking very damaged but also very angry. They turned to the center of the city and saw pokemon responsible for interrupting their battle. In a rare show of agreement the two pokemon both charged Hyper Beams preparing to wipe the nuisances out of existence. The beams were fired and headed straight for the island.

("Done!") Said Mune proudly. He then noticed the beams heading straight for their position and hurriedly put up one of the most powerful reflects Ash had ever seen. The beams slammed into the bubble of energy and ricocheted off heading back at the ones who had fired them!

"How did you do that!" Asked Ash astonished. He was actually somewhat disappointed the attacks hadn't hit. If they had he wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore.

("I was using Calm Mind the whole time.") Said Mune simply ("I learned it after the Gym battle so I thought it might come in handy if I needed to fight.")

"And the reflect?" Asked Ash "I didn't know you knew that move."

("I'm not sure about that one…") Admitted Mune ("It just kinda happened.")

"Well you saved our lives with it." Said Ash "I guess I owe you one."

Dawn just continued to whimper in Ash's arms. She'd closed her eyes sometime after the second wave came over the island and was now busy telling herself that it was all a dream and she'd wake up in the pokemon center any minute.

Ash was beginning to wonder why Groudon and Kyogre hadn't retaliated yet. He looked over to see that Kyogre was lying on top of the water with his eyes closed and Groudon was also laying flat on his stomach atop his rocky mount. For a brief moment Ash thought that his pokemon had actually defeated them. That is until they both opened their eyes looking totally refreshed and totally angry! Groudon started charging a Solar Beam while Kyogre began gathering ice for a Shear Cold attack.

Out of nowhere the sky suddenly cleared and a thundering voice echoed around the city. "**ENOGH!" **Cried the voice **"THE FIGHTING SHALL END!" **

A large serpentine figure descended in front of Ash and his pokemon and glared at the two feuding titans **"I AM RAYQUAZA THE DRAGON LORD!" **Thundered Rayquaza **"YOU SHALL CEASE THIS FOOLISH FIGHTING AT ONCE OR SUFFER MY WRATH!" **

Groudon and Kyogre stared at each other for then stared back at Rayquaza. The two hadn't forgotten what happened the last time they'd disobeyed this creature. They'd continued to fight after he'd ordered them to stop and both ended up suspended in a deep sleep for thousands of years. Not wanting to go through that again they silently resigned to finish the fight another time. Groudon floated to the top of the city and headed due south. Kyogre did the same but headed in more north-western direction.

_Wow! _Thought Ash _He didn't even have to lift a finger to get them to stop. I'd sure hate to be on his bad side. _

"**Human!" **Thundered the dragon king **"IT IS TIME FOR THE TRIAL!" **

"What trial?" Asked Ash "I haven't committed any crimes, have I?"

("Well there was that one time…") Began Pikachu

"**SILENCE!" **Ordered Rayquaza. He swept his tail over the island capturing Ash's entire group minus Meowth and Wallace who had both taken refuge in the debris long ago.

"Woah!" Cried Ash "Put us down!" After looking down and seeing he was several feet in the air he amended "Never mind, just get this over with."

("Just a dream…just a dream…") Whimpered Dawn.

Rayquaza headed back toward the Sky Pillar carrying his new companions. His passengers had no idea the 'fun' he ad in store for them.

…

Several hours later Wallace finally decided it was safe to come out from underneath the rocks he'd been hiding in. He glanced around and saw that Ash and his pokemon were all gone. The only pokemon he could see was his Wailord who was swimming toward him. The cities Nurse Joy also decided to peak out about this time. She came out of the barely standing pokemon center and saw Wallace standing alone on the island were the Gym once stood.

"Wallace!" She called "What happened to the pokemon that were fighting?"

"Would you believe me if I said I beat them with Wailord here?" He called back hopefully

"Why would that be hard to believe? You are a Gym Leader aren't you?" Asked the nurse

"Then yes, I Wallace Sternback, defeated two legendary pokemon with a single Wailord!" Shouted Wallace in triumph

Most of the remaining residence had come out just in time to see Wallace make his declaration and they all cheered thankful that their resident Gym Leader saved them all from certain doom.

"Wallace! Wallace! Wallace!" Cheered the crowd.

…

Meanwhile Rayquaza deposited Ash and his pokemon on an island with a huge Tower in its center. Ash looked around in confusion at the tower and the surrounding landscape of the island. There were lots of fruit trees and several caves and rocky cliffs. Ash looked back at Rayquaza waiting for some type of explanation.

"**I AWAIT YOUR ARRIVAL AT THE TOP OF THE TOWER!" **Roared the dragon **"YOU WILL NOT LEAVE THIS PLACE UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED MY TRIALS!" **

_Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse… _Thought Ash bitterly

…

**A/N: Well that is that. Next Chapter will be out when I get it out. Hope you enjoyed reading this portion of my little fic. As always please leave a review I'd really like to know what you think about this chapter. DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE HONEST! **

**Until Next Time… **


	16. Choose or Be Chosen

**To the Reviewers: I decided to review at least one of the stories of anyone who has reviewed this. The only one I haven't left a review for is cdfe88. That is because his only story is a Xailin Showdown story and I don't really like that show. No offense man. Anyways here are the responses.**

**Cdfe88-You thought the last chapter was too explicit? Well this fic is rated T for a reason, not just language. I didn't have anything in that chapter that was any worse than some PG-13 or TV14 movies and shows I've seen. That is why I didn't and probably won't put a warning before that chapter. I didn't mean to offend anyone reading this and I just thought those parts would be pretty funny. Glad you enjoyed the rest of the chapter though and I appreciate all your input.**

**Ri2-I sent your response in an e-mail so I will just answer a question of yours I forgot to earlier. Lugia is a very strong Psychic pokemon right? If he can use Amnesia on himself I figure it can be adapted to erase peoples memories. Then all it would take is a little simple psychic persuasion to come up with the most plausible memories.**

**Antithesis-I hope you update your fic: The Honeymoon is Over Soon. I like that fic and I am really wanting to see where you go with it.**

**And now the story…**

…

Choose or be Chosen

Richie Trainum hated going home. Today had been a bad day just like every time he went home. It was always the same in his hometown of Cobalt Town, A mining village in north east Johto, he'd get the same lecture from his father. "This whole family's always been coal miners since your great grandfather's time!" His father would yell "Why do you have to be any different! You're lucky your mother asked me to let you train before she died. If it had been up to me you'd have stopped playing with those beasts ages ago!" Richie would then argue that pokemon were not beasts and that his dad was being ridiculous. He'd then end up being told to "GET OUT!" and he would then gladly leave. The only reason he even came home was to visit his mother's grave site once a year. She had died of a terminal disease when Richie was eight. After that his father went into a dangerous spiral of drinking, working and telling Richie what a failure he was. Richie was determined to become a Pokemon Master and finally prove to his father and everyone else that he was not a failure.

Richie walked through the mountains heading west from Cobalt Town. He was planning on returning to Hoenn soon in order to improve his pokemon team. He'd been there once before but he hadn't bothered trying to enter the Hoenn League. He figured he would stick with the Johto league since it came around more often and got just as much fanfare as the other major tournaments.

Richie's Pikachu, Sparky rode on his shoulder content to take in the view of the surrounding area. It was unusually hot for this altitude and the electric mouse was wondering if his trainer noticed the change in the air. It was quiet almost too quiet. Sparky suddenly smelled something strange in the air. It smelled of burning trees and bubbling lava.

("Richie…") Said Sparky ("I think you may want to get out of here. The sooner the better.")

"What are you talking about Sparky?" Asked Richie unsure why his pokemon suddenly sounded so nervous. "You smell something dangerous?"

("Well it doesn't smell friendly.") Commented Sparky ("Smells like a strong fire-type.")

"There are a lot of fire-types around here." Said Richie "Most of them are strong to, so I don't see any reason to worry."

("If you say so.") Said Sparky. He was still edgy about being close to such a dangerous-smelling creature.

It was unfortunate for the pair that they did not take Sparky's suggestion and make haste out of the area. Richie decided to camp in a grove a half a mile off the path. Just when Richie entered the small grove of trees he heard a horrifying roar and looked up to see an Orange-brown dog-like creature with a white face mask and red main. This was Entei and he did not look happy.

…

Gary Oak was traveling north of Cherry Grove city. He was attempting to brave the cold mountain climate because he had found out about the price on his head. Anyone who spotted him was promised a $100,000 reward if they provided a tip that led to his capture. _I wonder if I were to turn myself in, would I get the money? _He mused to himself sarcastically.

It had now been a week since the destruction of Pallet Town. Gary had explained to Professor Elm about what had happened. The professor was needless to say shocked about the news. Elm told Gary about the news bulletin which marked him as the number one suspect and had told him to find Claire of Blackthorn City. Apparently Claire was none to thrilled about her brother Lance's death. She and Lance had both suspected Giovoni of being more than just a Gym Leader. The fact that Gary had possible evidence and since Giovoni's recent rise to power was more than just a little suspect in the eyes of many people only helped back her thinking. So after having his Arcanine treated and getting a few supplies from Elm, namely new cloths and a supply pack, Gary headed due north toward Blackthorn City.

It wasn't long before Gary encountered a raging snow storm. He was unsure where it had come from since just a few minutes before it had been a clear night. Gary decided he had to be near the edge of the storm so decided to find his way out. He called our Arcanine and had him use Ember to make it easier to see in the blinding storm. After about five minutes of walking Gary found himself in front of a man sized mound of ice and snow. The oddest thing about the snow mound was that there seemed to be a constant flow of electricity coursing up and down the huge spire. Curious as to what could be buried under the ice Gary had Arcanine use flamethrower on the ice. A large cloud of steam shrouded the area for several moments. As the vapor cleared a towering yellow form could be seen where the ice one had been. Raikou was free and he was angry.

…

The southern coast of Johto was warm and pleasant. Misty Waterflower now Aquaria Tsunami walked along the beach letting the sand tickle her bear feet as she watched the sunset over the ocean. She'd set up camp a mile or so from the beach and had decided to take a stroll to help her get to sleep easier. Although she thought she'd gotten over her grief from the past month she still occasionally had dreams about one of the events or another. Mostly it was flashbacks of fighting Zapdos other times it was Togetic murdering helpless Togepi. Worst of all was a weird one were she saw Ash getting carried off by a huge dragon and thrown roughly on an island filled with grotesque bug-pokemon. She had no idea where that one could be stemming from but it was better then her usual Ash-dreams.

Figuring that a swim would put her at ease she slipped off her short and shorts and made her way into the water. She swam out a ways and flipped onto her back letting the current move her along. A squall seemed to come out of nowhere and so did the rip current she was suddenly caught by. Normally she would have just stayed calm and turned parallel to the current until she made her way back to shore. However, since she was so caught up in her thoughts she was taken by surprise and dragged under the surface. She struggled and struggled but the pull of the water was too strong. Just when she was about to black out she felt something hard underneath of her. In a flash she was out of the water and lying on the beach coughing up seawater. Once she collected herself she looked up at her rescuer and saw a blue and purple beast with a flowing white mane. There was a scar on its face which hadn't been there the last time she had seen it, but there was no mistake.

"Suicune?" Asked Aquaria. She then felt a wave of dizziness and blacked out.

…

Entei stared at the human in front of him. The boy looked as if he were terrified. Entei couldn't believe he had been mistaken about the source of power he had sensed in this direction. Surely this trembling human couldn't be the one he was seeking. Entei looked at the boy more closely. In his eyes he could see the fear and confusion, but besides those things there was something else. The boy looked determined and confident. As the moments wore on more and more courage surfaced in the trainer replacing the cowardice which was initially evident.

("See I told you there was a strong fire-type nearby.") Said the trainers Pikachu dryly ("But do you listen to me? NO!")

"He can't be that tough Sparky." Said Richie. Even though he said this his voice betrayed the fact that he wasn't sure about that. "You're up first buddy."

("Are you crazy!") Yelled Sparky ("What am _I _Supposed to do against _him!_")

"Start off with Double-Team then use Thunder Wave." Answered Richie. He picked up the electric-mouse and tossed him into battle before he could protest any further. "Go Sparky, You can do it!"

Sparky didn't waste any time talking back to Richie any further. There was a time for disobedience and there was a time to save your, and your annoying trainer's, butt. He sped around the clearing making several copies of himself in an attempt to confuse his opponent.

Entei was impressed the pikachu's attack was fast, but not fast enough. Entei fired a Flamethrower just as Sparky started releasing energy. The flames tore through the air and headed straight for a surprised Sparky. He had been banking on his Double-Team to fool Entei at least once. Sparky howled in pain as the flames raced over his body thoroughly singing his yellow fur. When the flames ended Entei was baffled when he saw that Sparky, although undoubtedly burnt, was still standing and now had a fully charged Thunder Bolt attack waiting for the volcano pokemon.

Entei attempted to dodge the attack, but ended up only being able to avoid a small portion of the powerful strike. Sparky wasn't done yet however. He began moving incredibly fast thanks to his Agility and started charging up electricity causing his body to glow a bright yellow. He slammed into Entei with surprising force sending the beast tumbling off his perch which was overlooking the clearing. The actions of the valiant rodent infuriated the legendary beast. Seeing that Sparky's speed was his greatest asset Entei released a Fire Spin which surrounded the pikachu in a ring of fire trapping him.

"Sparky use Dig to get out of there!"

Sparky worked frantically, his claws scooping away dirt like miniature bulldozers. Soon he was under the ground and away from the intense heat of the flames. He listened carefully for Entei's movements before starting toward the beasts position.

Meanwhile Entei was concentrating on the vibrations in the ground. He knew that if the rodent caught him off guard it could be a dangerous mistake. He felt movement to his right and quickly jumped backward just as the ground began to explode upward. Entei didn't waste any time. He sprang forward and delivered a terrifying Body Slam to the electric-mouse. Sparky went sailing through the air and landed a few feet from his trainer's position.

Richie retrieved his fallen pokemon and cradled it in his arms. "You did your part Sparky, good job." He said as he stroked the pokemon affectionately. "This isn't over yet!" He called to Entei.

The beast simply stared at the boy amused. He hadn't expected the pikachu to be as strong as it was, but he could take anything this human could throw at him.

"Happy I choose you!" Called Richie. He threw a pokeball with a yellow star over the red half into the middle of the grove. A graceful butterfree appeared from the ball and flew around the air trilling happily.

Entei was doing his best to contain his amusement. This boy thought that a mere BUG could beat HIM. He waited to see what kind of attacks this bug was going to try on him, this proved to be his ultimate undoing.

"Happy Stun Spore!" Ordered Richie

The butterfree sung gleefully as he flapped his wings and sent a massive yellow cloud around the entire grove. There was no where for Entei to go. He held his breath knowing that one whiff of the spores would immobilize him. He charged at the butterfree in an attempt to stop him from releasing any more spores.

Richie saw this and acted quickly "Silver Wind!" He ordered

Happy flapped his wings even harder while they started to glow a silvery white color. He launched two spiraling whirlwinds at the volcano pokemon. The attacks struck the charging pokemon and caused him to gasp when the wind was knocked out of him. Once his first breath of the Stun Spore was taken Entei collapsed to the ground now unable to support his own wait.

"Okay Happy now finish him off with a Psychic blast!" Commanded Richie

the butterfly pokemon concentrated and a bright blue aura surrounded its body. Happy mustered all his power into one point and then pushed it at Entei with all his psychic might. The attack sent the beast hurling into a thick pine tree on the side of the grove and knocked it out instantly.

…

Gary stared open-mouthed at the snarling thunder pokemon. Raikou stood with his back arched and body brimming with unspent electrical energy. Gary wasted no time in giving Arcanine his orders. "Arcanine Flame Wheel!"

The dog pokemon leapt into the air and shot a flamethrower straight toward the ground. He dove straight into his fire and then started to roll around and around swathing his body in the flames. The flaming pokemon plowed through the ice and snow and headed straight for Raikou position. The thunder pokemon stood his ground and countered the Flame Wheel with a Volt Tackle. The two attacks collided and Arcanine was thrown back by the impact.

("Take that Entei!") Yelled Raikou. Because of the snow storm he could only see bits of white and orange so he assumed what he was fighting was the legendary beast of fire.

("I'm not Entei!") Yelled Arcanine ("I'm just an Arcanine.")

("Lies! You came back to gloat hoping the ice had sapped me of all my strength, COWARD!") Not wanting to waste anymore time on words Raikou fired a Thunder Bolt which struck Arcanine and knocked him out.

"Arcanine Return!" Said Gary

Raikou looked at the direction of the voice and saw the silhouette of a human through the blizzard. Had he really been wrong? Was that just an Arcanine? He didn't get a chance to ponder this any further because the human recalled his Archanine and threw out another pokeball.

"Nidoqueen I choose you!" Said Gary

Out of the ball came the hulking blue form of a Nidoqueen. She gave a thunderous roar and glared at the thunder pokemon. Raikou was no fool and he now knew what must have happened. The human must have seen his ice prison and told his Arcanine to melt it. He was grateful for the humans aide, but he still couldn't be sure of what his intention was.

"Nidoqueen, Earthquake!" Ordered Gary

Nidoqueen raised one of her large feet into the air and stomped down as hard as she could. The resulting shockwaves caused the ground to shake violently and split in several places. Raikou jumped around frantically in an attempt to avoid being hit with by any of the newly formed faults. The ground stopped shaking and Raikou waited for the humans next attack. When none came he looked at the human questioningly.

("Aren't you going to make an attack?") Asked the Nidoqueen

("You're giving me a chance to attack?") Asked Raikou astonished

("That's the way Gary battles wild pokemon.") Said Nidoqueen ("He gives them a chance to make a decision about weather or not they want to keep fighting. If they keep attacking then Gary doesn't feel bad about capturing them.")

("Most humans would not do that. Especially not against me.") Said Raikou ("Your trainer must be incredibly stupid if he does lets his enemies have a chance to retaliate.")

("If this was a fight for his life I he wouldn't give you a chance.") Said Nidoqueen ("He doesn't catch wild pokemon unless they are willing to fight him. Just because you're a legendary pokemon doesn't make you a special case.")

("Interesting.") Said Raikou ("I would like to study this human of yours further. Lady Ho-Oh may have an interest in something like this. Tell your human I submit. I am willing to stay in one of those balls the humans use to carry you around.")

Gary, who had been patiently waiting for the pokemon to do something and had been listening to Nidoqueen's side of the conversation, was shocked when he heard his pokemon tell him what Raikou had just said. He took out a pokeball and sat in on the ground. The thunder beast went up to the ball and nudged it. There was a red flash and the ball dinged signifying a successful capture.

…

Aquaria awoke to the sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore. She vaguely remembered getting swept under by a rip current and being rescued by…

She slowly opened her eyes not knowing exactly what to expect. The first thing she saw made her eyes widen in shock. Standing over her was what she could only guess to be the concerned face of Suicune. The aurora pokemon backed up slightly when he noticed her eyes were open. A cold wind started to blow and Aquaria was sure she heard the wind talking. "_Are you alright?_"

"Are you doing that?" She asked weakly

The beast nodded and demonstrated this talent further. "_As the incarnation of the North Wind I can control that particular flow of wind to suit my needs._" He explained "_I doubt you could understand me otherwise._"

("Could you?") He added in his language

"I guess not." Said Aquaria "Thank you for saving me back there."

"_It was foolish to go out so far._" Said Suicune "_You are lucky I was on my way here._"

"What were you coming here for?" Asked Aquaria

"_I am here because of you._" Said Suicune "_You were the one that was with the chosen one in Ecruteak City weren't you?_"

"If you mean Ash then yes." She answered "Was it that easy to recognize me?"

"_For most creatures I would have to say no._" Assured Suicune "_But for me and a few others who can see your aura it would not be hard. You also smell the same._"

"So what did you want with me?" Asked Aquaria "I thought Ash was the magnet for all the legendary pokemon."

"_The boy is something special, but he is not the only one._" Said Suicune "_He has his purpose and you have yours._ _As for what I want from you…_" Suicune turned around and pulled out Aquaria's bag. She just now realized she was back at her camp site and was lying on her sleeping bag. Suicune removed a pokeball from Aquaria's belt. It was the only empty pokeball still remaining and the beast nudged it. In a flash Suicune had disappeared into Starmie's old pokeball and the ding of a successful capture was heard.

…

Richie sat beside his camp fire examining his newly captured pokemon. After Happy had knocked out the legendary fire beast Richie had thrown an Ultra Ball and captured him. He was planning on taking the pokemon to a pokemon center and then offering it its freedom. He hardly ever forced captured pokemon to stay with him any more. He had only done that as a rookie trainer before he understood that pokemon were just like humans. They had feelings and dreams to. Some of them liked to battle and some of them just wanted to live in peace.

The ball in his hands suddenly started shaking and in a red flash of light Entei materialized by the fire.

("Translate for the human.") He told Sparky who was resting beside Richie.

("He wants to talk.") Said Sparky seeing the apprehensive look on Richie's face. ("He asked me to translate for you.")

("I commend you for defeating me earlier.") Said Entei ("I first thought you were a scared whelp, but after seeing how well you trained your pokemon I find myself doubting my earlier assessment.")

"Thanks I guess." Said Richie "I was gonna wait until I took you to a center and got you fixed up, but since you seem okay now I have to ask you something. Do you want to continue being my pokemon or would you like for me to release you from the pokeball?"

("Yes I was right when I chose you.") Said Entei ("I would like to continue as we are now. There may come a time when I need to leave, however. When and if that time comes I will be able to leave on my own.")

"You got it buddy." Said Richie. He couldn't believe he'd actually caught a legendary pokemon and that the pokemon had decided to join his team. Maybe the day wasn't so bad after all.

…

**A/N: Review please!**

**Until Next Time…**


	17. Trials of the Sky Pillar

**To the Reviewers: Not much to say on an individual basis this time. Just would like to welcome the two newest reviewers and I am glad you are enjoying this story. **

Trials of the Sky Pillar

Ash looked up at the large tower before him. Two days on this island and he still couldn't get the door opened. Every time he would get close several Duskulls would come through the door and chase him around until he was away from the pillar. One Duskull wouldn't have been a hard task to deal with, but over twenty of them was proving to be a real problem. His pokemon were still tired from their battle against Groudon and Kyogre and for some reason his poke'dex wasn't responding to any transfer commands. The only pokemon that could still battle were Mune and Dawn. Unfortunately Mune was next to useless against the dark and ghost type pokemon. That left Ash with only one option of pokemon to use against the ghosts. After much convincing he had gotten Dawn to agree to come with him to try and get the door open.

"All you have to do is run up there and nudge it a bit." Assured Ash. "They can't hurt you because you have a type immunity to anything they try and throw at you."

("What about Shadow Ball or Curse?") Argued Dawn ("If I get hit with one of those it's all over.")

"That's what Quick Attack is for." Said Ash "Use that to slam into the door and open it."

("Remind me again why we can't wait until the others are feeling better?") Asked Dawn.

"Pikachu says he needs more rest, Swellow has a broken wing, Silver thinks he pulled a psychic muscle or something from carrying Meganium, Meganium's been sleeping for almost the entire time we've been here and Crawdaunt swam off somewhere saying something about doing his duty to all available females in the area." Explained Ash "That leaves you and Mune as the only two pokemon willing or able to do something about these ghosts. Since all of Mune's attacks would pass right through them that makes you the only choice for this mission."

("But all my attacks will pass right through them too.") Said Dawn. ("Even after I get the door open there are bound to be more ghosts inside. You can't expect to get in there and make it all the way to the top with just me and you. Can you?")

_So much for my 'one step at a time' plan. _Thought Ash _I guess I have to wait now. _"You're right Dawn. I didn't even think about after we get in there." Said Ash embarrassed.

("You never have been good at thinking.") Said Pikachu as he came from the direction of his sleeping place. ("If it wasn't for me you probably wouldn't have lasted a day after Brock left.")

"I thought you said you were tired." Said Ash dryly. Pikachu never hesitated to bring up Ash's lack of mental prowess.

("I was fine yesterday.") Said Pikachu ("We all just decided that since you game yourself a break for two days when you needed it we could all do the same. Now we're even.")

Just then Ash's other pokemon assembled themselves in front of him. They were all awaiting Ash's orders. "You guys really need to learn when the proper time for joking is." Said Ash

("I wasn't joking.") Said Crawdaunt ("I really was doing my duty to water-pokemon as a species.")

"I don't even want to know what you mean by that." Said Ash. "We need to get through that wall of ghosts and into the tower."

("I say we wait until morning.") Said Pikachu ("The ghosts won't be as active then and it will be easier to get inside.")

"It won't matter what time of day it is when we try and get in." Said Ash "These ghosts are here even during the day. It's really weird."

("How about everyone gets in their pokeballs and you find some way to get us in while we do absolutely nothing to help.") Offered Crawdaunt sensibly.

("You know that sounds like a really good idea.") Said Meganium ("We all still could use some rest.")

Ash knew she had a point. What his pokemon really needed was a good night in the rejuvenator at a pokemon center. All he could give them here was some fresh air, rest and food. He returned Silver, Meganium, Swellow and Crawdaunt to their balls and Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder.

"Dawn it looks like you still get to do that little mission of yours." Said Ash. "Use Quick Attack and get that door open!"

Dawn looked at the door then looked back at Ash. ("Are you sure this is going to work?") She asked ("That door looks pretty sturdy.")

("All you have to do is ram into it.") Said Mune ("I'd do it but the ghosts will sense me coming a mile away and all swarm around me before I even get close. You're not scared are you?")

("No!") Yelled Dawn ("You're not the only one who used to battle back on that island!")

Surprising everyone, even herself, she sped straight for the entrance to the tower and went straight through four Duskulls who tried to bar her path. She slammed into the door with all her might causing them to fly open and slam against the inside of the tower.

"Wow, that actually worked." Commented Ash

("You didn't think it would?") Asked Mune

"Well my ideas have been known to back fire." Admitted Ash

("What an understatement.") Muttered Pikachu.

With the doors open the Duskulls floated off in different directions. Their only job had been to keep Ash outside as long as possible. Now that they had a clear path the group made their way through the entrance and into the main hall of the Sky Pillar.

The room wasn't exactly what Ash was expecting. There were no grand paintings or red carpet. Instead there was a plane room with a gray stone floor and runes etched all over the walls. The building looked as if it had been standing for thousands of years and based on the number of ghost pokemon Ash had seen around the island he didn't think that guess was too far off.

Amazingly there were no obstacles on the first floor and Ash soon found a stairway leading to the next floor. After climbing about 12 flights of steps Ash finally arrived on the second floor.

…

("He's on the second floor sir!") Said a Shuppet sentry to Rayquaza.

"About time." Said the dragon "I didn't think it would take him two days to get this far."

("Should we go ahead with the plan?") Asked the Shuppet

"Yeah, you guys have fun." Said Rayquaza "Just don't over do it."

("We won't.") Said the Shuppet while laughing evilly

…

The second floor wasn't much different from the first, aside from a few cracks in the floor. Ash was only walking a bout two minutes when he suddenly felt extremely cold.

"Is it just me or is it getting a little chilly in here?" Asked Ash

("I think it's just you.") Said Pikachu ("I told you to buy a new jacket after you grew out of your old one.")

"Yeah maybe you were right." Said Ash. He continued walking but the cold only got worse and worse. Without warning Ash went falling to the ground sending a startled Pikachu tumbling across the floor.

("Ash!") Yelled Dawn and Mune

("What's wrong with you?") Asked Pikachu. He looked back at his trainer and was horrified to see about five Shuppets hovering around Ash's fallen form. ("Hey get away from him!")

("And miss a meal like this?") Asked one of the Shuppets ("Never. Your friend here is brimming with so much negative emotion he's a regular cornucopia for our kind.")

("What!") Asked Pikachu. He knew Ash had been feeling down, but he didn't think it was that serious.

("Yes.") Said another ("The anger, the sorrow, the doubt and the desire to end ones existence. It tastes so wonderful!")

("The desire to…") Began Pikachu ("HE DIDN'T. HE WOULD NEVER…") Pikachu then thought back to the look on Ash's face when the Hyper Beams almost hit them while in Sootopolis City. He was unsure at the time, but now that the cynical pokemon had said this, he realized Ash had looked happy when the beams were coming and looked almost disappointed after they had been reflected. ("Oh no…")

("That's right little mouse.") Sang another ghost ("Your trainer is a walking pit of depression. We feed on negative emotions using them to siphon life energy from the body. It's only a matter of time before this human is no more than a shell of his former self.

_There has got to be a way to get him out of this! _Thought Pikachu frantically. He powered up a thunder bolt and fired it toward the ghosts. The attack seemed to bounce off an invisible force field and then dissipated harmlessly into the ground. ("Huh?") Said Pikachu confused

("We are protected by the lord of the tower.") Informed a Shuppet ("The only way to get rid of us is for this human to will us away with _positive _emotions.") He said the last part with disdain. ("It looks like he's all out of those though!")

The Shuppets laughed sinisterly as they continued to feed off of Ash's negativity. Ash was stuck in an endless loop of his worst memories and little by little his essence was being sucked away as each memory caused a different emotion to surface. There were no happy memories being shown to him. All he was experiencing were the bad times in his life. His first day of training when Pikachu almost died. Loosing countless battles, Loosing in the Indigo League because Charizard refused to obey orders, and all the events of the past few months.

Dawn and Mune looked at Pikachu hoping that the electric-mouse would have some type of solution. All Pikachu could do was look on as his friend was drained by the evil ghosts.

("Ash how are you gonna be a pokemon master if you die!") Asked Pikachu, He was desperate now. The remark got no response from Ash. ("Who's going to get revenge on Giovoni for hurting Brock and Misty?")

The last remark seemed to cause Ash to stir and the Shuppets' horns grew brighter trying to keep him subdued. Seeing this was working Pikachu continued ("That's right Ash if you die no one is going to be able to make him pay for what he's done. Brock and Misty might even still be alive; they never found any trace of them at the Gyms.")

"Alive?" Breathed Ash. The thought had never occurred to him. He had told himself not to hope because if he didn't hope he would have no reason to be disappointed if his hopes were crushed.

("Yes Ash Alive!") Said Pikachu ("And if they're alive you can finally tell Misty how you really feel!")

Now Ash was completely out of the Shuppets' trance. A warm blush seeping into his cheeks. "W-What are talking about Pikachu?" He asked trying to feign ignorance. "Misty's my friend that's it."

_You gotta be kidding me. _Thought Pikachu as he slapped his forehead with his paw. ("Ash you are 16 for crying out loud! It is fine for you to feel attracted to a female. Especially a pretty one like Misty!")

("Hey where'd all his negative emotions go?") Asked a Shuppet

("I don't know.") Answered another ("One minute he's brimming with bitterness and now all I can taste is…") He flicked his horn tentatively trying to discern the flavor of Ash's aura. He suddenly gagged and started wheezing. ("…_Hack_…unrequited love.") He said as he passed out.

("No! Not the 'L' word!") Moaned the other ghosts. They quickly fled the scene not wanting to take advantage of their free meal any longer.

"What was that all about?" Asked Ash. He couldn't understand what the Shuppets had been saying and was even more confused when he saw Pikachu and the others laughing and pointing at him. "What's so funny!" Asked Ash indignantly

("They said you scared them off because all they could feel was 'love' whenever I said 'Misty'.") Said Pikachu. At the sound of her name Ash blushed even more and caused Pikachu to laugh even more.

"Okay so what if I do happen to 'like' Misty?" Said Ash. "I still don't see why that's so funny."

Pikachu finally got himself under control and hopped back onto Ash's shoulder. ("You'll figure it out one day.") He assured his trainer.

("Do you know what we were just laughing about?") Asked Dawn to Mune

("Yes actually.") He said ("I read Ash's mind when I saw him blushing and found out that he really likes this girl he used to travel around with. They were really good friends but Ash never got the courage to tell her because he was afraid of the rejection and the strain it would put on their friendship.")

("And that is funny why?") Asked Dawn

("Well I read Pikachu's mind and found out that the same girl really likes Ash and has for a long time. She won't tell him for the exact same reasons. They also fight all the time in an attempt to cover up how they feel. When you look at it from Pikachu's point of view it is pretty funny.")

("I guess…") Said Dawn

…

("Sir they are on their way to the next floor.") Reported a Banette. ("Shall I inform my brethren to go ahead with their little 'experiment'?")

"You know you guys are really evil right?" Said Rayquaza. The Banette just grinned evilly and nodded. "As long as we're clear then. Go ahead."

…

After climbing yet another ridiculously long corridor of stairs, 24 flights in all. Ash finally made it to the next floor. "Whoever designed this tower should be shot." Huffed Ash. "There is no reason why there has to be so many stairs."

("It wasn't so bad.") Said Pikachu. ("I'm not tired at all.") The remarked earned him glares from all and a nice new position beside Ash's feet.

"No more rides for you." Said Ash.

("Can't you take a joke?") Asked Pikachu

"No, no I can't." Said Ash

They were about halfway through the room when suddenly a lone Banette appeared right in front of them. The ghost had a long needle floating over itself with the pointed end dangerously close to its body. ("One more step and you'll be sorry…") Said the ghost.

("Ash stop!") Yelled Pikachu.

"I'm not afraid of some needle." Said Ash "I bet it isn't even real." He continued walking and went right past the Banette.

("Oh no…") Said Pikachu. He was starting to wish the depressed but cautious Ash was back.

("I warned you…") Said the Banette ("…Now you get a nice Curse!") The needle plunged into the ghost's body and it yelled in pain. As soon as its mouth was open the cursed energy surrounded Ash and seeped into his body. The pokemon gasped as the energy brightened and then suddenly disappeared.

"That's it?" Asked Ash

("Yep.") Said the Banette ("Now when you least expect it the curse will flourish and cause some 'interesting' things to happen. BRUHAHAHAHA!")

"What'd he say?" Asked Ash

("Basically, that you have a curse that could strike at any time between now and the rest of your life.") Said Pikachu ("Whatever the strike happens it doesn't sound like you're going to like it much.")

"That doesn't sound good." Said Ash nervously

("Oh trust me its not.') Said the Banette

The broad grin on the Banette's face was all the translation Ash needed. The group waited for several minutes expecting something dire to befall Ash at any minute. They waited and waited and waited some more. Finally Pikachu was fed up with all the waiting and broke the silence.

("Why are we just standing here!") He shouted

"Isn't there something else that's supposed to come and try to kill me?" Asked Ash.

("Of course.") Said the Banette ("All my brethren and I compiled that curse on you. So when it strikes it is sure to put your life in extreme danger. Such a strong curse can stand up to the most powerful Spell Tags and won't be broken easily. There's nothing else on this floor but you'll never solve the Dusclops' riddle on the next floor.")

"Translation?" Asked Ash

("In a nut shell, You're screwed no matter what so go to the next floor and hope for the best.") Said Pikachu

"Can't be any worse than dieing, and I've lived through that at least once."

("You have?") Asked Dawn amazed

"I'll tell you about it later." Said Ash

They walked passed the laughing ghost and headed up to the next floor. After walking an amazing 48 flights of steps our heroes found themselves in a room which had many different pathways and doors strewn across it. In the middle of the room stood a tall red Dusclops. He was holding a large book which was titled Unsolved Riddles of the Supernatural Kind. 

The pokemon looked up from his tome when he noticed Ash and the others. "Ah, hello!" He said cheerfully waving to them. "I am Copernicus the LV."

"You speak English?" Asked Ash

"Certainly." Said Copernicus "I am an avid scholar of all dialects of this planet. Being alive for hundreds of years has its advantages you know."

"So what mortal danger am I in this time?" Asked Ash. He was eager to get off this island and out of this weird tower.

"Mortal danger?" Asked the dusclops confused. "Oh! You must be the one trying to get to the top of the tower, I see." He scratched his chin thinking. "You have to answer five riddles, Which I will pick randomly from this book."

("That's it?") Asked Pikachu ("I am the riddle master. I'll have us on to the next floor in no time!") He announced.

"Each of you has to attempt to answer one of the riddles and the last one is a group effort." Said Copernicus "Should you fail to answer correctly, you will be subdued and hung over this pit." He snapped his fingers and a pit magically appeared beside him. It had many different colors swirling around inside of it and red and black smoke was coming from within it. "This is the Gateway to Hell. Don't worry its one way." He assured "Should your next team mate answer their question incorrectly as well. They will take your place in the cage and you will be 'released'"

"This is crazy!" Shouted Ash "What if we refuse to take part in this?"

Copernicus snapped his fingers again and Ash was transported into the cage. "I'll ask the questions here, understand?" Ash nodded and he was returned to his former position and Copernicus continued. "Since you like to talk so much you get the first question. If a train leaves Saffron at 5:00 p.m. KST (Kanto Standard Time) and another train leaves Goldenrod at 2:00 p.m. CJST (Central Johto Standard Time) What time will the train from Saffron hit the stantler with its hoof stuck in the tracks?"

"What!" Asked Ash

"Is that your final answer?" Asked the ghost

"Wait no!" Yelled Ash "Let me think about it."

("He's doomed.") Muttered Pikachu

"Thirty seconds." Said Copernicus. He snapped his fingers and a really annoying tune started to play in the background.

"How am I supposed to think with that annoying music on?" Asked Ash

"If they can do it in 'Jeopardy' You can do it now." Assured the dusclops

Ash started sweating hard. He didn't want to be suspended over a gateway to the underworld. "It'll hit…" He said "…When it hits"

"Is that your final Answer?" Asked Copernicus.

_If he says yes… _Thought Pikachu

"Yes." Said Ash

"Wrong!" Said Copernicus "The correct answer was 7:09 EKST (Eastern Standard Kanto Time)."

("Don't worry Ash we won't get any wrong!") Assured Pikachu

"I am not wrong!" protested Ash "I said 'It'll hit when it hits' and if it hits the stantler at 7:09 then 7:09 is 'when it hits'."

"But I can't accept such a broad answer as being right!" Argued Copernicus.

"You didn't say that at first." Countered Ash "And the question didn't say 'exactly' what time either. So I am right."

"Fine!" Said Copernicus this one won't be so easy though!" He flipped through the pages of the book until he finally got a riddle that was satisfactory. "You!" He pointed to Dawn. "You get the next question." The eevee swallowed and nervously awaited the question "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

("What's a woodchuck?") Asked Dawn

"That's not important." Said Copernicus "Thirty seconds, start now." The music started to play again and the seconds slowly ticked away.

("A woodchuck would chuck all the would he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.")

"Is that your final answer?" Asked the dusclops. Dawn nodded "Correct." He said sadly. He was sure that one would stump them.

("How did you know that?") Asked Pikachu

("If you're asked a stupid question give a stupid answer.") She replied

"Works for me." Said Ash

"Nest question." Said Copernicus "You're up next." He pointed to Mune "What was born at the same time as the world and destined to live just as long, but is never more than five weeks old?"

"This is a hard one." Said Ash

("Hmm?") Said Pikachu while pondering the question.

("Good luck with this one Mune.") Said Dawn

"Thirty seconds…Go!" Said Copernicus. Again the music started and the clock began ticking.

_Let's see the world is pretty old… _Thought Mune _The only things as old as the Earth are the sun and the stars and the…That's it! _("The Moon! Final Answer!") Yelled Mune.

"What the hell?" Asked Copernicus "No one ever gets that one right! You must be cheating!"

"Hey you can't call people cheaters just because they answer your question right!") Shouted Ash

Copernicus flipped through the book franticly, He went to the section entitled "Unsolvable Riddles" and read the first one he saw. "This one's for you rat-boy!" He declared to Pikachu. "What is thicker than the thickest steel and denser than the densest iron?"

With no hesitation Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and rapped in soundly on the head with his paws. ("That.") Said Pikachu ("Final answer!")

"You're gonna get yourself killed joking around like that Pikachu." Said Ash

("I'm not joking.") Said Pikachu ("It's been proven.")

Copernicus looked down at the book and then back up at Ash. "That's actually right." He said genuinely amazed. He furiously flipped through his book and found the last chapter which was named "Questions yet to be Answered"

"This is how it's going to work." Said the dusclops "By the rules I set at the start this last question gives all of you a chance to answer. I'll go in the same order I did before. If you answer wrong I'll lock in a cage and dangle you over your eternal doom. If all of you get it wrong I let the cages fall. Get it right and I'll let you up to the last floor."

"Sounds fair enough." Said Ash

("I'm up for it.") Said Dawn

_I am really sick of this _Thought Mune

"Last question." Said Copernicus "How do you get Jessie and James to go away and stay away for all eternity?"

_Oh crap! _Thought Ash _I don't know if anyone knows the answer to that question. _He decided to say the first thing that came to mind whenever he wanted to get rid of Team Rocket "Have Pikachu use a Thunder Attack?" He said uncertainly

"Wrong" Said Copernicus. He snapped his fingers and Ash was once again hanging over Hell's Gate.

"Hey what happened to 'Is that your final answer?'" Asked Ash.

"You get tired of saying it after so many years." Said the dusclops "What's your answer?" He asked Dawn.

("Ask them politely to 'please leave you alone'?" She said doubtfully. She didn't know Jessie and James too well so had no idea what to say.

Copernicus just snapped his fingers and she was in a cage beside Ash. "Next" He said impatiently. He was ready to be rid of the pests who bothered him from his research.

("Use psychic manipulation to erase all memory of you from their minds.") Said Mune confidently ("They can't bother you if they don't know who you are.")

"Nope." Said Copernicus. He snapped his fingers and Mune was now in a cage on the other side of Ash.

"How could he be wrong?" Yelled Ash

"You can only use psychic manipulation on someone who has enough brain power to be hypnotized. Jessie and James don't have enough smarts between them to see with a microscope."

("Good point.") Said Pikachu

"You're next Rat-boy!" Said Copernicus

Pikachu swore that when he got out of here he was going to track the dusclops down and give him a Thunder he would never forget. ("Which meaning of forever are we talking about? Do you mean like eternity or like an indiscernible amount of time?")

Copernicus looked very confused by the question. "Aren't they the same thing?" He asked

("Nope.") Said Pikachu

"Well, I don't know…" Said the dusclops. Suddenly Ash, Dawn and Mune were standing beside Pikachu and Copernicus was in the center cage. "…Oh no." He said just before the chain broke and he fell into the swirling abyss. There was a hissing sound and than the floor closed over the pit leaving no evidence of its existence.

"Will we ever know the answer to that question?" Asked Ash

("I don't think so.") Said Pikachu

They headed to the other side of the room ignoring all the other doors and finally found a staircase.

"Guys I really don't feel like walking up all these stairs." Said Ash.

("Look over there!") Said Mune. He pointed to a set of sliding doors with the word 'ELEVATOR' printed over top of them.

("Don't you think that this is just a little too convenient.") Asked Dawn.

"No way." Said Ash "Come on guys lets use that elevator."

("I'm taking the stairs Ash.") Said Pikachu.

("Me too.") Said Dawn.

("You two are just paranoid.") Said Mune ("I'm with Ash.")

("Suit yourself.") Said Pikachu as he bounded off up the stairs.

"Come on Mune. We'll get there in no time." Said Ash. No one seemed to notice the purple aura that was surrounding Ash.

…

About an hour later Pikachu and Dawn were waiting on the top floor by the elevator doors.

("Can you believe it was only 3 flights of stairs?") Asked Dawn ("I thought it would be a lot more.")

("Guess we just got lucky.") Said Pikachu ("I wonder where Ash is. It's been almost an hour.")

He then heard slow and labored steps coming from the stairway. Ten minutes later Ash and Mune collapsed at the top of the stairs.

("What took you guys so long?") Asked Dawn

"Elevator…huff….only had…huff…first floor button." Panted Ash

("Climbed…wheeze….100…wheeze…flights of stairs") Croaked Mune

Once Ash and Mune had finally caught their breaths the group made their way to the large double door at the end of the corridor. The door had a mural of a large green serpent with yellow markings. The beast had its mouth open showing several rows of fangs ringing a thin reptilian tongue. As they approached the door it slowly opened. Once they made their way through the doorway they found themselves outside and very high in the air.

"About time." Said Rayquaza. He then caught himself, cleared h is throat and switched to his 'Omnipotent Voice' "**WELCOME HUMAN.**" He thundered "**YOUR TRUE TRIAL HAS JUST BEGUN!**"

…

**A/N: I decided I had had enough sad chapters. (strictly for the time being. I am not through being evil, not by a long shot) So I decided to make this one a bit more light hearted and do a bit of character development. I need to mention that I do not own "Jeopardy" It is owned by Kingworld as far as my knowledge goes. And just to be safe I don't own "Who wants to be a millionaire?" either. Hope this chapter was enjoyable. Drop me a comment in a review and the next chapter should be up no later then Tuesday.**

**A/N II: With this chapter this fic passes the 60K word mark. Now I can officially call it a moderately long fic.**

**Until Next Time…**


	18. The Dragon God

**To the Reviewers:**

**Cdfe88-I introduced Richie when I felt the time was right. He didn't really have a place at first and since Entei needed a trainer he just fit the bill of available characters. I think this story is only about a third of the way finished. (Think being the operative word) so I can still put new characters in at any time. Glad you enjoyed the last chapters.**

**Ri2-Meowth is still on Sootopolis, Rayquaza picked up everyone who _wasn't _cowering in fear during the battle against Groudon and Kyogre. They ate the indigenous fruit trees that were on the island. At the end of chapter 15 I said that the island had a massive tower in the middle and had many fruit trees, caves and cliffs. Yes that is exactly what Crawdaunt was doing and the curse affected the elevator button. It was supposed to go to the top. However when Ash stepped in the curse took effect and caused the button to change functions. The curse is not like a normal Curse Attack it is more like a bad luck curse. And trust me the longer Ash is affected by it the worse the results.**

**Antithesis-You're right I don't own that, but since I only used just one aspect of the idea only one time I didn't think it was necessary to put a disclaimer for that. Especially since "Monty Python and the Holly Grail" was just a big parody of the real story.**

**Thebenjamin-If you have any questions you are welcome to e-mail them to me and I will do my best to answer them. That goes for anyone. As for your current questions. A few of them will be answered in this chapter and the next one, I think.**

**To the rest of you, Thanks for the reviews and I hope you leave many, many, many…(and so fourth)…more.**

**On with the story…**

…

The Dragon God

Ash swallowed as he looked at the towering dragon before him. He had an idea of what his next 'trial' was going to be, and it didn't look like he or his pokemon were going to enjoy it much.

"**HUMAN." **Roared Rayquaza **"YOU MUST DEFEAT ME IN-" **He was cut off when he suddenly started coughing.

"Are you alright?" Asked Ash

("Why are you worried about him?") Asked Pikachu ("He dragged us all here and made us climb a ridiculously tall tower. You almost died, got a curse put on you and we all almost got sent to hell. And it was all his fault!")

"I'm sure he had a good reason for bringing me here." Said Ash

"I did." Said Rayquaza. He decided to abandon the "Omnipotent Voice." It put a strain on his vocal chords to use it so much in one day.

"What happened to your voice?" Asked Ash. He was glad the loud intimidating voice was gone, but he had to wonder why Rayquaza suddenly sounded a lot younger.

"Forget that." Said Rayquaza "I just use that for first impressions and to intimidate people.'

"Okay…" Said Ash "So why am I here?"

"Well, the balance of nature was disrupted about six months ago." Said Rayquaza "Someone decided that they wanted to disturb the harmony of ice, fire and lighting , again! There was a big storm in the Orange Islands and Lugia came to see what the problem was. I think you heard this part of the story from Silver, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Lugia's family was visiting him at the time and his wife was helping him fight against all of Team Rocket's pokemon. Eventually the three birds were released, and together they managed to take down Lugia, kill his mate and almost capture his son. Thankfully the little guy got away and made it to you."

("If you knew all this why didn't you try and stop it?") Asked Dawn

"She has a point." Said Ash

"My job is to maintain the purity of the atmosphere." Said Rayquaza "It is also to play peacemaker between Groudon and Kyogre. This is how it's always been from my father's time to his father's and all the way back to the beginning of time."

"So what you're saying is; you didn't help because it wasn't your job?" Asked Ash shocked. "That's not an excuse."

"Sure it is." Said Rayquaza "There are rules that all legendary pokemon have to fallow. They were stipulated by the first Ho-Oh and Mew millions and millions of years ago."

"You still haven't really answered my first question." Said Ash

"Well if you all would stop interrupting me, maybe I could finish." Said Rayquaza annoyed. "Now, you're here because you have been chosen by many different legendary pokemon in the past. You seem to have some innate ability to bond with pokemon in a way only a few other humans can. You are the exact opposite of the man manipulating Lugia and the three birds. I brought you here to make sure that the other legendaries new what they were talking about."

"And how are you going to determine that?" Asked Ash as he slowly backed away from the dragon.

Rayquaza only grinned as he reared up to his full height. **"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN" **He said in his "Omnipotent Voice" for effect.

("We have to fight him!") Squeaked Pikachu.

"Looks that way." Said Ash "I know if I saw this coming you had to have seen it to."

("I was actually hoping I was wrong for once.") Admitted Pikachu.

("You guys have fun.") Said Dawn ("I've never fought something that big and I don't intend to start now.")

("Torchic") Said Mune ("You always run when you're scared.")

("If you're not scared then why are you hiding behind Ash with me?") Asked Dawn.

("Umm..") Said Mune

"I won't force you guys to battle if you really don't wan to." Said Ash "You should know that by now. Pikachu you take point."

("If you insist.") Said Pikachu hopping in front of Ash and taking his battle stance on all fours.

"Hit him with a Thunder-" Started Ash. He didn't get to finish his order because Rayquaza had already snatched Pikachu up in his tail and was now swinging the little mouse around. "Pikachu shock him!"

Every time Pikachu tried to gather energy Rayquaza's grip tightened and caused him to gasp in pain. Finally Rayquaza was done plying games with Pikachu and slammed him mercilessly into the floor of the tower.

"Pikachu!" Yelled Ash

He ran to his pokemon and picked him up in his arms. Pikachu was still breathing but Ash could feel several broken bones and the mouse's breaths were slow and labored.

"**FOOLISH HUMAN." **Boomed the dragon **"SENDING IN THAT MOUSE WAS FOOLISH." **_Maybe I over did it. _He added mentally

"Alright if that's the way you want to play it." Said Ash. He unclipped two pokeballs and released Silver and Meganium.

"_You had better not ask me to carry her again._" Said Silver

("I am not that heavy!") Shouted Meganium.

"Guys this isn't the time." Said Ash "Silver I need you to try and fight Rayquaza, Meganium do that Leach Seed trick you did on Silver to heal Pikachu."

Silver took to the air not sure what he could do against Rayquaza. Meganium put a Leach Seed into herself and started using Synthesis to get more energy while giving her own to Pikachu. Rayquaza lunged and swatted at the young Lugia but he was unable to make any contact with him.

"Silver use Dragonbreath!" Ordered Ash

Rayquaza countered with a Dragonbreath of his own which overpowered Silver's attack and sent both attacks slamming into him. Before he could hit the ground Rayquaza wrapped him up in his long coils and again began to slowly squeeze the life out of him.

"Silver get him off with a Confusion." Said Ash

Silver used his psychic energies to cause Rayquaza to relinquish his grip. As soon as he was free Silver flew up into the air and aimed himself right at the dragons head in an Aerial Ace attack. Rayquaza quickly shook off the Confusion's effects. He looked up just in time to see Silver coming at him very quickly. The resulting impact caused the dragon's massive form to flip in mid air. Rayquaza didn't waste any more time with Silver, seeing him as a worthy opponent he decided to pull out all the stops. He reared his head back and prepared for his next attack.

Before silver could even blink he felt a tremendous force collide with his midsection. Rayquaza had used Extreme Speed one of the fastest and most devastating physical moves in the pokemon world. Silver started to fall and since he was no longer flying over the tower's roof he would surely crash into the rocks below. Seeing this Rayquaza quickly flew over to the plummeting bird and caught him before he could fall any further. He deposited Silver in front of Ash and then flew back into the air waiting for Ash's next choice.

Ash didn't know what pokemon to choose now. Swellow would be defeated in no time, Meganium was at a distinct disadvantage, Crawdaunt didn't know any ice attacks and… Ash suddenly realized he had forgotten about one of his pokemon. He'd used him to get to the Sootopolis Gym and then completely forgot he was even on his belt. No doubt Croconaw was hungry by now and Ash couldn't force a hungry pokemon to battle.

Unfortunately for Ash, The Banette's curse had other plans. Before Ash could move his hand from the lure ball on his belt a gust of wind caused him to sneeze thereby making his hand 'accidentally' hit the release button on the ball. Croconaw materialized from the pokeball and looked around confused.

("Ash why'd you leave me in there for so long?") He asked. He looked around and noticed the thin end of Rayquaza's tail just a few yards away. Since Rayquaza was in the air and wasn't paying much attention he had dropped his tail down and it was lying on the ground. With a cry of ("Liquorish!") the Big Jaw Pokemon scooped up the tail and bit down hard.

"Croconaw NO!" Yelled Ash. He was too late of course because Croconaw was already chewing the piece of tail that he had managed to bite clean off!

"Holly Shit!" Said Rayquaza once he felt the pain of six inches of flesh being removed from the end of his body. He looked down at the little blue pokemon busily munching away on his tail.

Croconaw spit the chewed up tail out and spat several times ("That tastes horrible!") He exclaimed.

Rayquaza was now outraged at the pokemon. _First he eats my tail, THEN HE SPITS ON IT! _He thought angrily. **"YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSULANCE FOOLISH CREATURE!" **He bellowed.

("Huh?") Said Croconaw noticing Rayquaza for the first time.

"Croconaw move!" Shouted Ash

("He's doomed.") Said Mune

("Don't say that!") Said Dawn as she cuffed him upside his head.

Croconaw looked up at the dragon and saw that its tail looked like someone had bitten it off. He then looked down at the nasty "Liquorish" He had spat out and it all seemed to click into place ("Uh-oh") He Jumped to the side as Rayquaza flew by him. The dragon was using Outrage. While this attack was extremely powerful it also caused the user to be confused if it didn't connect for an attack. The confusion combined with the pain caused Rayquaza to fly around almost blindly striking at anything that looked remotely like Croconaw.

"Croconaw use an Ice Beam when he gets close to you!" Shouted Ash. He knew he had to try something. Every time Rayquaza smashed into something the whole tower shook. If this kept up everyone would most likely be crushed.

When the dragon finally got close enough to Croconaw, the little pokemon opened his moth as wide as he could and unleashed a very powerful Ice Beam. Rayquaza was shocked back to reality when he felt intense cold permeate all along his abdomen. He looked down at himself and found that he was now sporting a sheet of ice from halfway down below his arms all the way to his clipped tail.

"Croconaw, use Ice Beam one more time!" Yelled Ash.

Croconaw reared back and gathered ice energy into his mouth. Before he could release it however, a brilliant flash of lightning and he was hit with a powerful Thunder Attack. Croconaw immediately collapsed. The lack of food and harsh electric attack were too much for him to handle.

Rayquaza concentrated and then suddenly his tail grew back to its original length. He looked down to see Ash slowly backing up toward the stairs carrying the motionless Pikachu. His pokemon were following his example. The dragon laughed at Ash's attempt to sneak away. "The battle's over man." Said Rayquaza "You loose, Not that I expected you to win of course."

"Huh?" Asked Ash confused "If you didn't expect me to win; then what did you make me come all the way up here for?"

"To gauge you." He answered "I was pretty sure that you couldn't win but I needed to see exactly how strong you were. I hate to tell you, but if you couldn't beat me I don't see you winning against the birds too easily let alone Lugia and any other pokemon Giovoni manages to collect."

"You mean he's looking for more?" Asked Ash

"Only one." Said Rayquaza "But if he gets his hands on it, well…does the name Mewtwo ring any bells?"

"Yeah, this is very bad." Said Ash "I thought Mewtwo said he was erasing Giovoni's memory of him. How can he even remember him?"

"He created Mewtwo." Said Rayquaza "Even though his memories of trying to capture him are gone. He still had records in several different places that document Mewtwo's creation and all his records between then and the time he escaped."

"I still don't quite get it, but I suppose that explains it." Said Ash "So what now?"

"Now we go for a ride." Said Rayquaza. Once again he wrapped his coils around Ash's group, but this time he set them on his back. "You may want to recall all pokemon that will go into a ball." Advised Rayquaza. Ash did as he was told and even recalled Pikachu to his ball. He knew that Pikachu would most likely shock him to kingdom come once he woke up, but Ash needed both hands to hold on and Pikachu needed to be safe. He looked at Dawn and Mune, who were trying to find a means to grasp on to the serpent.

"I don't think they can hold on very well." Said Ash pointing out the two pokemon behind him. "Can't you just carry them like you did before?"

"As long as they don't try to eat my tail." Said Rayquaza only half joking "You know that really hurt, right?"

"I can imagine." Said Ash

Rayquaza wrapped his tail tightly around the eevee and espeon. He then rose into the air and started heading north west.

"Let me explain something to you Ash." He said while flying "You need to train, and I mean really _train._" He said putting extra emphasis on the word train. "You almost died against Groudon and Kyogre and I could have killed you. Giovoni won't be so merciful. You need to train ALL your pokemon and not just the ones you usually use. Understand?"

"You make a good point." Said Ash over the rushing wind. "Where are we going anyway?"

"To where you need to be." Said Rayquaza. Done talking for the time being Rayquaza sped up to astonishing speeds and in a flash of light they disappeared over the horizon.

…

A little over ten minutes later they landed in a large valley surrounded by several mountains. Rayquaza released his passengers from his tail and got close to the ground so Ash could hop off.

"Where are we?" Asked Ash "It had better be near a pokemon center." He added remembering his exhausted allies.

"I think there's one, somewhere." Said Rayquaza "Your poke'dex should let you transfer now. I'm not blocking the signal anymore."

"So it was you?" Asked Ash "What was the point of doing that?"

"That's not important." Said Rayquaza "However, this is." He took a deep breath and shot a green colored flame right at Ash. The fire didn't really burn at first. The only place Ash felt pain was in the middle of his forehead. As quickly as they had started the flames ended. "You now have the symbol of the Dragon God. This will make it easier for you to understand what any pokemon says. I think you earned it since you gave it a good fight back at the pillar. The mark also lets you find other people like you."

"What do you mean 'like me'?" Asked Ash

"Anyone else who has a connection to the legendary pokemon." Said Rayquaza "I have to warn you though, the mark doesn't distinguish friend from foe so be careful." With that he began to rise into the air once again.

"Wait you're just gonna leave without even telling me where I am?" Asked Ash incredulously "You can't do that!"

"I can, and I am." Said Rayquaza "As for where you are, that's not important right now."

"You always say that!" Called Ash as the dragon rose higher into the air. "Hey wait!"

"**GOOD LUCK HUMAN." **Said Rayquaza turning back to his "Omnipotent Voice". **"WE SHALL MEET AGAIN." **He then used his impressive speed to head back up into the O-Zone layer.

("Now what?") Asked Mune

"I have no idea." Said Ash "All my gear is back at the Pokemon Center in Sootopolis. All I have is Dexter and my pokeballs. My clothes are ripped and dirty and I could really use a nice hot shower."

("Hey I just thought of something.") Said Dawn ("Where's Meowth?")

"He's…" Started Ash "He must be back in Sootopolis."

("Aren't you worried about him?") Asked Dawn

"He's survived worse." Said Ash

Having no idea where he was, Ash picked a direction at random and began walking. This tactic had always gotten him somewhere in the past so he figured it was the best way to go. Thus the group set off to hopefully find a nearby Pokemon Center.

…

**Well that's that. Sorry about the literal Pikachu bashing, lol. I will have the next chapter up…when I get it up. Please leave a review and thank you for reading.**

**Until Next Time…**


	19. Welcome to Team Rocket

**To the Reviewers:**

**Cdfe88-I didn't even think about the Matrix when I came up with the mark thing. It actually was partially inspired by another fic I have read called "Celedon Flight"**** As for your question about Dawn. Eventually yes she will.**

**Ri2-I will tell you what the mark looks like when I get back to focusing on Ash again. These next few chapters deal with the other characters. Croconaw bit through the thin part of Rayquaza's tail so it wasn't that hard to bite it off :). I only remember May's Munchlax ever eating anyones apendages in your story, did I miss something? **

Welcome to Team Rocket

Professor Oak was ushered into a large office by two Rocket Grunts. He had no idea what they could possibly want with him. What did he have that they didn't? They had already destroyed his lab and taken all of his research, including several prototype TM's and other such equipment.

He was made to sit in front of a large desk where he looked at the back of a large black plush chair. "Hello Professor." Said a voice from the other side of the chair. "I'm glad to see you made it here in one piece."

"You say that like I had a choice." Grumbled Oak

"You did have a choice." Said the voice "You were told to either come quietly or loose your precious granddaughter. You chose to come quietly and that was the right choice."

"Where is May?" Demanded the professor "And what did that woman mean when she said you were 'taking care' of Gary? I swear if you've hurt either of them I'll-"

"Do absolutely nothing." Finished the man behind the chair. "Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, let's get down to business." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and a hole opened on the desk. Through the hole came an all too familiar looking pokeball. It was gold on the top and silver on the bottom. Engraved across the front of the ball were the letters "G-S"

"How did you get that?" Demanded Oak "I thought I told Kurt to destroy that thing!"

"He tried." Said the man "But he was unable to complete that little task. This ball is comprised of the toughest alloy in the word. Even a master pokeball maker like Kurt couldn't destroy it, and neither could a leading pokemon researcher like yourself."

"How do you know all this?" Asked Oak

"I have my ways." Said the man "Now professor there is something I need from you. You are the only one who knows how to activate what you yourself called 'Genocide Syndrome' and that's what I need you to show me how to do."

"No, never!" Cried Oak "I won't do it!"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Said the man "Perhaps a little persuasion is in order." He pressed a few more buttons on his chair and a screen came up. On the screen was an image of a cage filled with various baby pokemon. "I know you care deeply for pokemon, don't you Oak?"

The professor just stood there watching the screen. He didn't like the look of the situation but there was no way he could give away something as dangerous as the secret to Genocide Syndrome. Oak watched as the cage which held several Pichu, Igglybuff and Clefa was lowered into a pool filled with Carvahna. Oak tried to turn his head away from the gruesome scene before him but the grunts held his head and forced him to look at the grizzly scene. The anguished cries of the small pokemon rang through his ears as they were ripped to shreds by the ravenous fish.

"You see professor you could have prevented that." Said the man "I'd hate to see what those fish would do to a human." He chuckled when he heard the professor gasp.

"You wouldn't…" Started Oak

"I would and you know it." Said the man matter-of-factly.

Oak shuddered at the thought of seeing anything else go through such a heinous demise. He knew that giving this man what he wanted would most likely cause even more of the same, if not worse, acts of horror to be caused. However, he couldn't take anymore of this. He had to protect his family, they were all he had. "Alright, you win."

…

Brock was starting to get used to being in Team Rocket. He and the other Gym Leaders were slowly being turned into ruthless agents. Slowly very slowly their morals and values were falling by the wayside. Every time they would go on a mission they would be forced to commit harsh crimes, most being violent. The people of Kanto were putting pressure on Giovoni to make good on his promise to rid the land of Team Rocket. Therefore the 'boss' had sent most of the members to missions in Johto. Mostly trying to track down Gary. A few were dispatched in the Whirl Islands to try and find traces of Misty, but they hadn't found anything. Brock didn't know weather to feel relieved or disappointed. On the one hand this meant that his friend _might _be alright while on the other it meant that she could have been eaten alive by wild pokemon or some other gruesome fate.

Brock couldn't think about his friends much though. It always led him back to the night of the raid in Pallet Town. He had caused the deaths of many people, not just Delia. Although that one stood strongest in his mind he still thought about the other innocent lives he had ordered his pokemon to take. He constantly asked himself if it was worth it. Was his family so important? Were they the only reason why he was doing these things or was there something deep inside him that liked doing this?

The only outlet Brock had to take his mind off of his confusion was to totally turn off his feelings and carry out whatever orders he was given. This was why he was now in the dungeon level and had been the one to lower a cage of baby pokemon into a pool filled with flesh-eating fish. He had watched the spectacle without even blinking. He was both disgusted and proud of himself at the same time. He had never thought he would be able to do something so sinister or so vile and yet at the same time so captivating.

"Slate" Said a voice in his ear. "Get up to the briefing room, there's a mission for you."

"Affirmative." Answered Brock

He mad his way out of the gruesome chamber and headed upstairs toward the briefing room. As he was walking he saw two guards dragging an older man in a ruined lab coat down to the dungeons. Brock knew the man to be Prof. Oak and turned his gaze away from the man. He may have been accepting his new life, but he still couldn't face someone who had known him before.

…

Had he really done it? Had he really given away the secret to such a deadly weapon to such an evil man? The answer was yes. He had done it and now he regretted ever being part of the vile project in the first place.

It had been about ten years ago. Professors Oak, Ivy and Elm had been invited to Silph Co. along with the world renowned pokeball maker Kurt Benson. They had all been asked to combine their knowledge and experience to create a pokeball capable of capturing any pokemon. The balls were to be called Master Balls and would sell for a high price. At the time most of them had been against such a device. Kurt was the only one who seemed willing to do it. The company was offering him a lot of money and he needed it to pay for an operation his daughter needed. She had been sick and needed a very costly surgery to insure her survival. The scientists were swayed by the possibility of having a ball capable of capturing legendary pokemon. At the time Oak had been obsessed with studying a super-rare pokemon. He had somehow convinced Elm and Ivy to go along with the project and soon all involved were obsessed with creating a super powerful pokeball. Their first success came in the form of a ball made of a new alloy which combined titanium and diamond. The new alloy was called adamantium and was combined with all the mechanics of an Ultra Ball. After that they added the components for the special type-balls and created a pokeball that would capture any pokemon without fail. It was tested on Level 100 Dragonites, Charizards and even a reincarnated Kobutops. The problem with these balls wasn't discovered until the pokemon were tested in battle. They were totally obedient except for one major flaw. The pokemon would not stop battling until their opponent was completely destroyed. The longer each pokemon stayed in the ball the more they got the desire to kill. These first balls were destroyed and a new ball was created using all the same processes except for one. Instead of using regular adamantium they used an even more powerful alloy which put special nanomachines into the adamantium. These were meant to keep the pokemon contained unless it was released and to ensure that nothing went wrong with the captured pokemon's psyche. This ball turned out to be even worse than its predecessors.

At first the pokemon would be made to obey their new master. Whoever held the ball was considered as the pokemons trainer. It didn't matter if the person had been the one to capture the creature or not. After several tests in battle it showed that the pokemon's level grew exponentially. The usual cap of Level 100 seemed to be ignored as pokemon reached unheard of levels of strength. Once the pokemon reached Level 200 however its demeanor would change. The pokemon would only accept orders to battle and then it would not stop battling until all of its opponents were dead. It would then seek out a new opponent and if it couldn't find one the pokemon would turn on its master. The scientists dubbed this condition Genocide Syndrome. The pokemon which was housed in the ball was eventually put down. They attempted to destroy the ball, but due to its extremely durable nature, even the most powerful machines couldn't dismantle it.

After this ball was created Kurt quit the project. He said that he could no longer be a part of such atrocities. The other scientists soon quit as well. However before Oak left Silph he managed to install a safety on the ball. It would not activate unless a specific command was given. Without the command the ball was useless, it wouldn't capture anything and it wouldn't even be minimized. Ivy had volunteered to take the ball with her to Valencia Island and try to find a way to destroy it. Oak had agreed and hoped that he would never see the ball again.

He had heard nothing about the ball for another five years. This was until Ash found his way to Valencia that is. Oak had sent him on an errand to get some materials from Professor Ivy for an experiment he was going to carry out. Once Ash made it to the island and reported that Ivy had a weird pokeball she wanted the professor to "have a look at".

Oak had been hoping that the ball was not what he had been working on. However, when Ash returned from the Orange Islands and showed him the ball. He was sure it was what he'd hoped it wasn't. Oak immediately contacted Kurt and informed him of the situation. The pokeball maker had assured Oak that he could find a way to destroy the ball or at least make it useless. Oak sent the ball with Ash to the Johto region and hoped that it would be the last time he ever saw it. Now he knew he was wrong. The leader of Team Rocket had the ball in his possession and was going to use it for some malicious purpose of that much Oak was sure.

…

Brock entered the Briefing room and found that he was not alone. In the room with him were Surge, Lilly, Violet, Daisy and Erika. He also saw Butch, Cassidy, Fiona and Creig.

"I'm sure you all know why you are here." Said Fiona "The boss has been pleased with all of your progress. Especially you Mr. Slate." All remained silent so she continued. "I'm sure you're aware that there is a lot of static coming from the Johto region. One of the main points is Claire Dracone. You all probably know her best as the Dragon-type Gym Leader of Blackthorn City."

"What we need you six for." Said Cassidy "Is for a mission involving the seizure of the Dragon Holy Land."

The expressions on the assembled Gym Leaders faces didn't falter at the mention of such a daunting task. It was common knowledge that the Dragonite who guarded the Holy Land was one of the strongest pokemon around. It would be no easy task to take him down. This knowledge still didn't seem to make a difference to the Rockets.

"Since we're going to be fighting a lot of Dragon-types." Said Creig "With been given a little equalizer." He smirked as he pulled out a Master Ball. "I very own Ice Titan."

"So what are we going to do?" Asked Brock "Burry it under a massive snow storm?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do." Said Butch "Right after we capture all those Dratini that just hatched a few weeks ago."

With their plan now all laid out the Rockets left the room and awaited the call for their departure.

…

Gary had finally made it out of the cold mountain forest and he could now see Blackthorn in the distance. He pulled his cloak over his head and made his way down the mountains heading toward the Gym at the eastern corner of the city. He was going to speak to Claire and hope that she would at least believe his story about what had happened to Pallet. If she did it was possible he could receive some help in his efforts to overthrow Giovoni. He walked down the path with his head lowered and hoped for a miracle.

…

**Well that's it for this chapter, Review, Review, Review that's all I have to say . Hope that the short chapter didn't bother too many people. The next one will be up…eventually.**

**Until Next Time…**


	20. Team Rocket Trouble

**To the Reviewers:**

**Ri2-Let me just say that I always look forward to your reviews. They are usually kind of long, but that is fine because you seem to have a lot of insight into my plot, a little too much insight sometimes ;). That is fine though because I am glad I can still throw some curve balls that surprise even you. I haven't decided yet how Brock's situation will turn out so for now he is gradually slipping away to the dark side. At least I didn't turn him into a moping lovesick zombie who will never be able to find a beautiful woman as long as he lives. **

**Thebenjamin-You wanted to know what May and Max are up to. Well their not that important to the over all plot of the story. (which is why I got rid of them early) I am not saying that they will never be back in it, but for now it is probably best if you forget they exist, j/k. They will be back in it eventually. Glad you're enjoying this fic so much.**

**Cdfe88-Let me assure you and everyone else that I WILL finish this story no matter what. (Well baring all natural disasters or my untimely demise anyway, which let me add I hope happens no time in the near future). Again Brock will be evil until I decide his fate.**

**Enough of my pointless banter… **

Team Rocket Trouble

Jessie and James had been wandering around the mazelike interior of the cave for hours. After crashing through the wall they had been unconscious for some time. Now they were trying desperately to find their way out, and unknowingly going deeper and deeper into the cave.

"Jessie?" Asked James "Do you know how to get out of here?"

"Does it look like I know you moron?" She snapped sarcastically "First I get scooped up by some ancient monstrosity and then the twerp decides to play hero and sends us blasting off and now we're lost in a cave. The situation couldn't possibly get any worse."

Just then the ground above them started to crumble and they both ran to the side while holding each other and cowering in fear. An avalanche of dirt and rocks came crashing down on where they had been standing moments ago. When the dust cleared the duo was shocked to find Meowth lying on top of the rocks.

"Meowth, my head." He moaned

"What are you doing down here traitor." Said Jessie "Not enough room for you on the twerp's little pep squad?"

"Actually a big dragon came down and scooped him and all his pokemon up." Said Meowth "Then the dragon flew away after making dem two fighting pokemon fly away."

"You mean to tell me that _one _pokemon stopped those two monsters?" Asked James "That's amazing."

"No, what's amazing is what happened after." Said Meowth "After de sky cleared dat Wallace guy came out and said he beat dem pokemon with his Wailord, and get dis, dey actually believed him!"

"That is amazing." Said Jessie "But you still didn't answer my question. What are _you _doing down here."

"Well you see…" Said Meowth "I was hungry so I decided to take some food from dis wingull nest. Problem was de nest had more then just wingull. A huge pelipper came down and snatched me up. I used my Fury Swipes on it and it dropped me right on top of dis here cave. The ground caved in and then I ran into yous two." Then as an afterthought he added. "And who you callin' a traitor!"

"You of course." Said Jessie "You betrayed Team Rocket and joined forces with our arch-enemy."

"Hey Team Rocket betrayed me." Said Meowth "And the twoip gave me food and even helped a couple of friends of mine." _I hope those kids are alright. _"Yous two, who claimed to be Meowth's friends, left my high and dry!"

"He has a point Jess." Said James. This earned him a sharp rap on the head.

"Quiet James!" Snapped Jessie "Well Meowth since you destroyed the pathway leading from were we came from, I guess we'll all head the other way."

"Works for me." Said James

"Give me one good reason why I should fallow you?" Asked Meowth.

"Who wants a ball of yarn?" Sang James pulling out a ball of yellow yarn.

"Gimme dat!" Shouted Meowth snatching the yarn from James' hand. He was now content to follow his "former" friends around the cave.

The trio walked through the winding labyrinth of catacombs until they finally reached a large room that connected to several of the other paths. In the middle of the room stood a statue. It looked like a long snake with two short arms and a pair of wings on either side of its head. The beast looked as if it were roaring. In the dragons mouth was an orb. It glowed an eerie combination of orange and green. The statue seemed to be subduing the energy from the orb somehow.

"That statue." Said James

"It's made of pure jade and diamonds." Squealed Jessie "We have got to dismantle it and take the jewels for ourselves." She pulled out a pokeball and released her Dustox "Dustox use Supersonic on that statue!"

"Jessie no!" Said James

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Howled Meowth.

Their warnings came too late however because the bug-pokemon started emitted waves of super-high pitched sound. The resulting noise caused several rocks to come down and some struck the stature. Cracks started appearing all over the chamber and along the statue itself. There was a brilliant flash of light and everyone was momentarily blinded. When the light dimmed the group found the statue totally disintegrated and the room's stalactites and stalagmites were now gone. The only thing left of the statue was the weird orb that had been in its mouth.

"I'M FREE!" Shouted a very happy yet sinister voice from seemingly nowhere. "And now you humans belong to me."

…

Richie walked along a street in Mahogany Town. He had to pass through the area to get to any other part of Johto whenever he came from his hometown. He had checked out all his pokemon at the Pokemon Center and they were all now in tiptop shape. The Joy on duty had been very surprised when she scanned Richie's Ultra Ball. He had had to answer quite a few questions as to why he had such an extremely rare pokemon. "He attacked me and I caught him." Was the simple but true answer had given.

During one night while he had been training his pokemon, he had asked Entei where he should go. Although he originally wanted to return to Hoenn and earn enough badges to qualify for the league. It seemed he had something more important to do now. The beast told him to travel to the east. He wouldn't elaborate just saying he felt a strong presence that way.

As he was walking by an alley he heard a voice call out to him.

"Psst, Hey kid!" The voice said in a loud whisper. "You gotta take a look at this."

Richie looked to see a very suspicious looking man wearing a long brown trenchcoat. "I don't think I'm interested." Said Richie

"You won't know until you at least have a look." Said the man. He had a distinct Hispanic accent. "Just take a look." He was slowly walking closer to Richie

"Look, I told you I'm not interested." Said Richie. Sparky was sparking electricity from his cheeks warning the man not to come any closer.

"Woah, woah." Said the man backing away "I just wanted to sell some vintage Rolex watches." He opened his coat to reveal several very nice looking Rolexes. "Cheap too, only $50, if you act now."

Richie's attention was now on the watches. He knew they were probably stolen, but they were really nice watches! He'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this.

("You are not buying one!") Said Sparky ("Don't you watch any TV? Every time someone buys something from a guy like him it's always defective!")

"What's he saying?" Asked the man trying to keep Richie's attention while a group of black clad men with R's on their chest snuck up behind him.

"He's just saying how nice the watches look." Lied Richie, He spotted a particularly nice watch with diamonds all along the face and band. "Hey is that one 50 too?" He said pointing.

When the man looked down to inspect the watch Richie caught a glimpse of a reflection behind him on one of the silver watch bands. He moved to the left just in time to avoid the blow to the head from one of the Rockets behind him.

"Damnit Carlos!" Hissed the man "You're supposed to keep them looking at _you _the whole time!"

"Hey man he wanted one of the really nice ones." Countered Carlos "I coulda got at least 200 off him before you knocked him out and stole his pokemon."

"Idiot." Said the other man "If we'd have knocked him out you could have _stolen all _his money."

"Good point." Said Carlos "Sorry guys."

"Who are you guys?" Said Richie "He had managed to trap himself on a dead end street so the only way he was leaving was by going through the Rockets.

They all looked at him and in unison took ridiculous poses. Carlos had his arms and legs stretched out to their limits giving his body an 'X' look. The man who tried to knock out Richie was standing on one foot with his other knew bent and he had his arms folded across his chest. The last guy had decided to take a handstand and was in between Carlos and the other guy.

"To scour the night and do what's wrong." Said Carlos

"To make the grip of evil firm and strong." Said the one on the opposite side of Carlos

"To make you suffer and cause you pain" Said the one in the middle

"To take from you and ensure our gain!" They said in unison.

"Carlos" Said Carlos launching himself into a series of cartwheels and landing in a squatting position.

"Reece" Said the other man. He suddenly jumped into the air pushing off the foot that had been off the ground and did a series of flips and landed opposite Carlos mimicking the other mans position.

"Mitch" Said the last man. He opted to do a series of back flips and landed with one leg on each of his squatting team mates' shoulders.

"Team Rocket circling the Earth day and night." They said together "Surrender now or you won't live through the night!" A pokeball on Mitch's belt twitched and out popped a delibird.

"Bird Bird" ("That's Right") He chirped.

"Wow," Said Richie "That motto was a lot different than the last time I heard one."

"Thanks we worked on it for ages." Said Carlos

"Quiet doofus!" Snapped his team mates. Mitch even decided to kick him in the head since they were still in their pyramid position. They separated and each of them drew out a pokeball.

"Hey three on one's no fair." Said Richie. "Of course I'll give you all a chance to leave quietly, but you don't have to take it if you really don't want to."

("Don't be over confident.") Warned Sparky ("You don't know what kind of pokemon they have.")

"Relax Sparky." Whispered Richie "I'm just trying to get them riled up so they don't concentrate as well on the battle."

("Good idea.") Complimented the pikachu ("Who are you using to fight them?")

The Rockets called out an Ampharos, a Mochamp and Farfetch'd. The three new pokemon and Delibird took their battle positions. \

"Well they've got two flyers." Said Richie to his pokemon "You're the obvious first choice. They don't look very strong so you and one other should be able to handle it."

("Sounds good to me") Said Sparky ("Who's coming with me?")

"Kyra, I choose you!" Said Richie. He threw one of his patented star-embroidered pokeballs and out came a kirlia. "Sparky, Go!"

Sparky leapt off his master's shoulder and took his battle position beside Kyra. Their four opponents glared down at the two little pokemon. Their trainers trying to hold back fits of laughter.

"That's all you're sending out?" Asked Reece "We shouldn't even waste our time trying to steal such weak pokemon."

"We'll see whose weak" Said Richie "Kyra hit that Mochamp with a psychic, Sparky Thunder those two birds!"

Before the Rockets could even issue a counter command their pokemon were pounded with the vicious attacks. The Mochamp immediately fainted and Carlos returned him to his pokeball. The two bird pokemon didn't fair much better and they too were returned by Reece and Mitch.

"Okay, Now I'm mad." Said Mitch

…

Aquaria was desperately trying to distance herself from the rockets that were following her. If she had just minded her own business this wouldn't have happened. However, when she saw a group of Rocket Grunts harassing a young trainer and tried to steal her pokemon. She couldn't just sit there and do nothing. She had sent out Gyarados and told the kid to run. The young trainer had complied immediately and that left Aquaria to face two Rockets alone. This usually wasn't a problem, but these grunts were very well trained. They had sent out Electrodes and Gyarados only managed to take out one of the explosive pokemon before he was knocked out by a very strong Thunder Bolt. The Rockets then sent out two Magnaton to aid the electrode. Aquaria figured that Suicune could handle the pokemon since she wasn't sure her others could. But sending out a legendary pokemon in front of two Team Rocket members was like rolling around in honey and standing near a Beedrill hive. Therefore she took the only sensible option. Run.

She peddled her bike as hard as she could trying to get away from her pursuers. When she judged she was a fair enough distance away she pulled out Suicune's pokeball. She released the water guardian and gave him his orders. "Suicune there are some really tough Rocket Grunts behind me." She said "They're using electric-types and you're the only one who really has a chance."

"_Very well_" Said Suicune "_You should get yourself to a safe place. Things might get a bit chilly_." With that he bounded off in the direction of the Rockets.

…

Gary had opted on not going through the front door of the Gym. He decided that as a fugitive from the law the first thing someone would do was call the cops on him and try and collect the reward. This was why he was trying to sneak in the back way, through the Dragon's Holy Land. The place was surrounded by high cliffs and steep embankments and normally the only way to get in would be to go through the passageway behind the Gym. Gary however, had other plans.

"Raikou, I choose you!" He said as he released the thunder beast from his pokeball. "Would you mind giving me a lift over those cliffs?" He asked. Raikou nodded and Gary climbed on his back. The beast shot off at top speed. He was up and over the cliffs in mere seconds and Gary found himself inside the beautiful valley which was the Dragon's Holy Land.

He didn't get long to enjoy the scenery though. Not even a minute passed from the time he recalled Raikou to the time he came face to face with a very large and very angry Dragonite.

…

"We what!" Yelled Jessie "I don't know who you think you are, but no one owns Team Rocket."

"Pathetic creature." Said the voice "Did I say you had a choice?"

"You're nothing but a voice." Said Meowth "You can't hurt us."

"That's what you think." Said the voice again.

It was too late for the unfortunate trio when they realized that the voice had been coming from the orb which was now floating directly over Meowth's head. The orb began to glow an intense shade of orange and suddenly a beam of green and orange light shot out and stuck the talking cat right between the eyes. He stumbled back and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Meowth!" Yelled James "What did you do to him!"

"Why I merely borrowed this useless pokemon's body." Said the voice which now seemed to be coming from the fallen feline's mouth. "You see in my last battle against that dragon, who was holding my orb, my body was…separated so to speak. You three are going to help me get it back."

"And if we refuse?" Asked Jessie

"This" Said the possessed Meowth. His eyes began to glow a ruby red color and Jessie and James suddenly screamed in pain. Images of brutal and painful torture racked their brains and intense pain protruded through every orifice of their bodies. "Agree to serve me without question and your pain will end."

"We agree! We agree!" They screamed through their pain.

Meowth's eyes stopped glowing and the two Rockets slumped to the floor in a heap. "You're first duties as my new subordinates is to find my servants Groudon and Kyogre."

"What!" Asked the two Rockets flabbergasted

"We just got away from them." Whined James

"I am not going anywhere near those two beasts again." Announced Jessie.

"Do you require another demonstration of my power?" Asked the being. "I would be more then happy to torture you once again."

"We'll go!" They said.

"Good I see we're making progress." Said the being "Now to get us out of this accursed cave." He snapped his fingers and in a flash the group was transported outside of Sootopolis City. "I know that Groudon has moved to the south and Kyogre is somewhere to the north. You three will seek them out and I will do the rest." He then closed his eyes and when they opened again the confused orbs of Meowth stared back at the Rockets

"What just happened?" He asked "How'd we get outta dat cave?"

"You were possessed by that voice and now we all have to do his bidding to avoid horrible torture." Explained James "You know our usual run of the mill situations."

"Great." Said Meowth "I'm stuck wit' yous two again."

"It's not all bad." Said Jessie "At least now we don't have to report to the boss that we failed out mission and as long as we do what this guy says we won't get tortured."

"So how are we getting off of this island?" Asked James

"Your account still has money in it doesn't it?" Asked Jessie "We'll do what we always do. Use your money to buy a new balloon and take to the skies!"

"I was afraid you'd say that." Moaned James. He made his way to a conveniently placed pay phone and made a call. "Yes this is Morgan; I need an industrial strength Meowth-head hot air balloon with all the usual equipment." He paused "Yes that's credit." He paused again "Yes I know I owe you all a lot of money already." Pause "What do you mean this is the last time!" Pause "Alright send it to Sootopolis City." Pause again "Yes I'll pay for special super-fast delivery. Thank you, goodbye."

"It'll be here in one hour." He said "Now as long as we avoid the twerp at all costs the balloon should last a pretty long time."

_Well at least things are back to normal _Thought Meowth **_Oh no little cat they are far from normal _**Said another voice inside of his head. Meowth began to sweat profusely and decided to ignore the voice. Maybe if he didn't acknowledge it, it would go away.

…

"You don't mess with us kid!" Said Reece

"Ampharos use Take Down on that pikachu!" Ordered Mitch.

The light pokemon headed straight for the electric mouse intending to slam him viciously into the pavement.

"Sparky stop it with Thunder Wave!" Ordered Richie. "Kyra use confusion once it's paralyzed!"

"No you don't." Said Carlos "Sneasle Go!"

"Glalie, Go!" Said Reece.

Sparky did manage to stop Ampharos by paralyzing it, but Kyra was unable to use her confusion because the Sneasle was in the way.

"Faint Attack!" Ordered Carlos

"Blizzard." Said Reece

The Sneasle slammed into Kyra and sent her crashing into the pavement. Glalie charged up its Blizzard and launched it at the two pokemon. Sparky managed to move away in time but Kyra didn't fair as well. She was hit full force by the snow attack and could take no more punishment.

"Kyra return!" Said Richie "I'm through playing with you clowns. Zippo I choose you!" He threw another pokeball to the ground to reveal the towering orange form of a charizard. Zippo let out a mighty roar and the Rocket's pokemon backed away. Ampharos who was still paralyzed simply whimpered in fear. "Zippo, Fire Blast!"

Zippo reared back his head and gathered flames into his mouth. He shot the flames out in a five-pointed star and sent them hurling toward the Rockets and their pokemon. Glalie and Sneasle ran around franticly trying to avoid being burned. Ampharos just closed its eyes and waited for the burn to come. Due to the enclosed area the Rockets' pokemon had no chance of dodging the high-powered flame attack. They all roared with pain as the flames cascaded over their bodies. Once the attack had ended three very charred pokemon were lying on the ground.

"I'd suggest you guys give up now." Said Richie. This time his confidence was genuine. These Rockets had some pretty strong pokemon, but they were all poorly trained. "I'll give you ten seconds to get out of here." Said Richie as he began counting down "10…"

"Who does this kid think he is?" Asked Reece "He beat all our pokemon with only three of his!"

"7…"

"I don't know who he is, but he's obviously way better than we thought he was." Said Mitch.

"5…"

"He's at five!" Stated Carlos "What do you think is gonna happen if he gets to one?"

"3…"

"I think we're about to find out." Said Reece

"1…"

"Maybe we should run guys." Said Mitch "That Charizard looks like it could toast us all were we stand."

"…Times up." Said Richie "Sparky, Thunder!"

"PIIIIKAAAA…" Chanted Sparky his cheeks brimming with electrical energy.

"Oh shit…" Moaned the Rockets

"…CHUUUUUU!"

The ground trembled when the horrific thunder bolt struck the ground where the Rockets stood. All the mechanics inside of Carlos' Rolex knock-offs sizzled and fried as the electric current shot threw them. He just happened to be carrying a flash bomb under his trench coat as well which exploded due to the powerful electric attack. The explosion sent the trio shooting off into the horizon.

("Hey Richie I got an idea." Said Zippo. He inhaled deeply and shot a Flamethrower at the flying Rockets.

"Now they really look like their blasting off." Laughed Richie. "Hey Zippo you want to stretch your wings for a bit?"

("I don't see why not.") Said the charizard.

"Well give me a lift for a few miles. I 'm heading toward Blackthorn."

("No problem, hop on.") Said the fire pokemon.

Richie climbed on his back and they started heading toward the east. Little did they know what awaited them once they arrived.

…

"Where'd that little winch go?" Asked one of the Rockets who was chasing Aquaria. "I know she went this way!"

"Well if you hadn't let her get away we could have gotten rid of her and those weak water pokemon of hers." Said his partner.

"Well we did manage to take out that nasty Gyarados of hers." Said the other grunt "That thing was really vicious, I'm glad we stole so many Rare Candies."

"We'll get her eventually." Said his partner again. "She can't get very far in a forest using that bike of hers."

The two Rockets were shocked when it suddenly got extremely cold and their pokemon were frozen solid by a snow storm that seemed to come out of nowhere. They gasped when they saw a blue silhouette through the sudden snow storm. The beast shot a rainbow colored beam at the two rockets sending them and their pokemon flying away in the distance.

"This never happens to us!" Cried one

"We never fail a mission!" Cried the other

"Now we're blasting off!" The cried together as they flew into the distance.

…

Suicune let the ice storm dissipate and returned to where Aquaria had been. The young trainer was huddled over a camp fire.

"You were right Suicune it did get pretty cold." She said "Did you get rid of the Rockets?"

"_They won't be bothering you again._" Said Suicune "_Those pokemon were not that strong, why did you have such trouble?_"

"They were electric-pokemon there was no way I could win." Said Aquaria

"_You have beaten that type of pokemon before._" Said Suicune "_I have seen you battle several times Misty, I know you can handle pokemon as weak as those._"

"Don't call me that." Said Aquaria "Misty Waterflower is better left dead. I'm Aquaria Tsunami now."

"_As you wish Aquaria_"

…

Gary strafed to the side as the guardian Dragonite swiped at him with a Dragon Claw. The attack caught his cloak and ripped a large piece of the fabric out. Gary had no time to call out a pokemon because he was constantly dodging attacks by the ferocious dragon. He was quickly growing tired from avoiding the sharp claws which were trying to eviscerate him.

There was an explosion in the distance and the dragon momentarily took his attention off of Gary. This was the opening the trainer needed. He pulled a pokeball at random, not really caring what pokemon came out. He threw the ball to reveal the small two-headed form of Doduo.

"Doduo use Tri-Attack!" Ordered Gay

Both the bird's heads opened their mouths and gathered energy. One had blue and red energy while the other held blue and yellow energy. Since the bird wasn't evolved the Tri-Attack wasn't as powerful as it could have been. But it was effective none the less. The tri elemental energy slammed into Dragonite causing him to stumble backwards. He looked back at his original opponent and then toward the rising smoke on the other side of the valley. He decided it was best to leave this intruder for later and deal with the more immediate danger. He dodged Doduo's Drill Pecks and slammed the bird with his tail. He then took to the air and headed toward the other disturbance as fast as he could.

…

Claire had been in the rookery looking after the newly hatched dratini. She was in the process of feeding them when suddenly there was an explosion and part of the wall came down. Through the smoke Claire could make out several figures standing beyond the ruined wall.

"Security here really needs to be upgraded." Said a woman's voice.

"Like, whatever can we just get this over with." Said another woman's voice. This one sounded younger then the first.

"Quiet!" Yelled a very awful male voice. It sounded like someone took a frog and gave it laryngitis before letting it inhale a large quantity of helium.

"He has a point." Said a suave male voice "We really should be taking these dratini and getting out of here."

"You're not taking the dratini anywhere!" Said Claire. "Dragonair Go!" She through a pokeball and the long form of Dragonair coalesced in front of her. "Send them flying with a Twister!" The dragon prepared to use its attack but stopped when it heard its trainer gasp.

To Claire's horror they all pulled out pokeballs and released various ice and rock pokemon. There was an Onix, Graveler, Dewgong, Jynx, Piloswine, Lapras, and even an Aerodactyl. How they had an Aerodactyl was beyond Claire.

"You can't hope to defeat Team Rocket." Said one of the men. Now that the smoke had cleared Claire actually recognized some of the people. Five of them were Gym Leaders like herself. Brock, the Waterflower sisters and Erika. All were wearing Team Rocket uniforms and their faces showed none of the former zest they had shown when she'd seen them last. The other four looked very smug and pompous. There were two women; one had blonde hair and purple eyes while the other had blue hair and bright green eyes. They wore matching Team Rocket halter/skirt combos except that the blue-haired woman had a blue uniform and the blonde had a black one. The two men were similarly dressed except they wore full shirts and pants. One had Green hair and eyes while the other had red hair and purple eyes.

"You can't win so you should just give up the dratini and we might let you live." Said the green-haired man with the horrible voice.

"You'd better listen to butch." Said the blonde haired woman "I'd hate to have to force you." Her tone showed that she would love nothing more than to force Claire.

"I am not giving you these dratini!" She pulled out another pokeball and released a Flygon. "Now both of you blast them with Hyper Beam!"

"Protect!" Cried all the trainers in unison.

The beams smashed harmlessly against a wall of energy. The trainers wasted no time in calling out a counter attack.

"Rock Throw!" Cried Brock and Creig as they gave their pokemon orders.

"Ice Beam!" Ordered the remaining trainers to their ice pokemon.

The attacks headed straight for Claire's pokemon and would have surely hit them had it not been for a massive Flamethrower which melted Ice Beams and turned the rocks to cinders. Dragonite had made it just in time to save his trainer's life. He roared at the Rocket's pokemon and fired another Flamethrower. This time the group was ready and their pokemon quickly dodged. The group was not ready however for the Earthquake attacks delivered by a Nidoking and Nidoqueen who came charging from the direction Dragonite had come from.

Gary had also made it in time to aid in the battle. The rockets saw that the tides were starting to turn and released even more pokemon. Fiona released her Dunsparce. Erika let out her Vileplume and Cassidy released Raticate.

Gary fallowed suit by letting out the remainder of his pokemon. All except Raikou. He had decided to save him as a trump card. Now Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Blastoise, Umbreon, Ditto, Alakazam, Doduo, Scizor and Arcanine were all assembled in front of their trainer. The real battle was about to begin.

…

**A/N: Damnit just when it was getting good to. I am tired of writing for right now so I decided to break this chapter up. In my opinion it is already pretty long. Luckily by the time I post this chapter the next one SHOULD be done. I hope I answered some of the questions out there, even though I know I created a lot more with this chapter, lol. One guess as to what pokemon is contained inside that orb . Anyways leave a review or two or three or however many you feel inclined to leave. I love opening my mailbox and seeing with review alert for the subject **

**Until Next Time…**


	21. Of Dragons, Ice, Fire and LIghtning

**To the Reviewers:**

**Ar1502599-First let me say thanks for the review. Now, how the hell is Entei of all pokemon supposed to rewrite the Gym Leaders' personalities. Secondly, it is not as if the Leaders woke up one day and said "Let's be evil!" the change is happening slowly. They were tortured both physically and mentally and torture plus blackmail can do some serious damage to ones psyche.**

**Thebenjamin/Antithesis-Lol, you both said MissingNo. Antithesis you don't need to review every chapter, as much as I would like it if you did, just drop a line every now and then saying your still around.**

**JMK-Why would it be weird if it were him?**

**Ri2-They owe them A LOT. The stature was THAT old, and yes making fun of Bitch (I mean Butch) is quite funny. Maybe I should stop torturing Misty…NAH! You'll find out in this chapter weather Ash is in the Holy land or not.**

**Very interesting guesses and for right now I will say this about the pokemon's identity…**

…**On with the story!**

Of Dragons, Ice, Thunder and Fire

The pokemon stared each other down looking for any type of weakness in their adversaries. Ditto, at prompting from Gary, had taken the form of Aerodactyl and was now flying in the air facing the reincarnated rock-bird. Claire's Dragonite was confused as to what side to join. He only saw Gary as an intruder, but since he had aided him he figured him to be less a threat then the Rockets. He, Dragonair and Flygon joined the Ranks of Gary's pokemon and awaited any commands they might be given.

The Rockets still had an advantage however. All of them were using only one or two pokemon from their whole party while Gary and Claire had released all of theirs, or so they thought in Gary's case. They also had more trainers so they maintained the ability to issue orders on an individual basis without taking their attention off of another pokemon.

Gary was not worried about this fact however. He was confident that he'd trained his pokemon well enough for them to handle themselves. He gave only one order and all the pokemon assembled knew exactly what to do. "Attack!" He ordered.

Gary's pokemon leapt into action. Blastoise fired a powerful Hydro Pump toward Onix and Graveler. Nidoking and Nidoqueen opted to take the direct approach and thundered through the assembled pokemon knocking them over like bowling pins. Umbreon darted in and out using Faint Attacks whenever the opportunity presented itself. Doduo ran around firing Tri-Attacks and dodging any counters the other pokemon sent his way. Scizor took to the air and joined Ditto in assaulting Aerodactyl. The pterodactyl pokemon wasn't even affected by the pincer pokemon's slashes. This was until Scizor decided to use Metal Claw. The attack gouged a large chunk out of the fossil pokemon's wing. It wasn't enough for loss of flight, but it did cause the creature an intense amount of pain. It didn't help matters when Ditto slammed into it with an Aerial Ace.

While all this was going on the three dragon pokemon sent occasional Hyper Beams or Dragonbreaths where they were needed. Claire didn't bother giving her pokemon orders either. She only had them remain in front of the doors guarding the rookery.

Brock saw that their current strategy wasn't fairing to well. "Graveler use Earthquake on Nidoking and Nidoqueen!" He ordered "Onix bind that Doduo and then use Take Down on Arcanine!"

Onix stretched out his massive coils and managed to snake his tail around the running Doduo. He wrapped the bird up tight and began to squeeze. He then spotted Arcanine firing Flamethrowers at Jynx and went plowing toward the canine still holding Doduo.

Graveler had gone off to assault the two drill pokemon. He raised himself into the air a few feet and came crashing to the ground right behind them. They were too busy pounding Dunsparce and Raticate so they didn't notice the attack until it was too late. The earth cracked and trembled due to the powerful seismic waves. Nidoking and Nidoqueen were sent hurling into the air and came crashing down in a heap.

The former sensational sisters saw their opening and took advantage. "Dewgong, Jinx Ice Beam." Said Lilly and Violet.

They launched their ice attacks toward the two downed pokemon. Gary looked in their direction and warned his pokemon to move but they were still too weak from the Earthquake. The Beams hit and the two pokemon were frozen solid. Gary grudgingly recalled his two pokemon and turned his attention to the remainder of his forces.

Blastoise had joined the dragons in guarding the rookery and was currently trying to fend off Vileplume. The flower pokemon kept sending Razor Leaf attacks which Blastoise avoided by withdrawing into his shell. The dragons were too busy dealing with Lapras and Piloswine. Blastoise finally had enough of the pounding his shell was taking and began to gather ice energy into his mouth. Vileplume was surprised when the turtle pokemon suddenly shot his head out of his shell and fired a powerful beam of ice straight at her. Evasive maneuvers proved fruitless because the flower pokemon was incased in a thick chunk of ice before she could even blink.

Meanwhile the dragons were having problems of their own. The two ice pokemon were resistant to their flames thanks to their secondary types. Whenever Dragonite would send a Flamethrower toward Piloswine, who was partially vulnerable to fire, Lapras would intercept the flames or fire a water gun at them. Whenever Dragonair tried to use Thunder to take out Lapras, Piloswine would take the attack which would have no affect on it. Flygon, who was weak against both ice and water, was trying to stay clear of this battle without leaving his post. He didn't want Team Rocket to get the dratini, but he didn't want to be frozen solid either. He would fire an occasional Hyper Beam, but these weren't very accurate.

Claire saw her pokemon's predicament and was contemplating orders which she could give them. She suddenly got an idea. It was risky, but it just might work. "Dragonite, Rage!"

The dragon nodded his head and let his fury consume him. Before the anger could totally overtake him he took it upon himself to use Dragon Dance. The technique increased both his defensive and offensive power. Once the Rage had totally settled in Dragonite roared and charged straight for the ice-pokemon. Using his superior aerial speed, Dragonite was able to dodge the Ice Beams and Blizzard attacks which the two pokemon sent his way. While they were distracted with the rampaging Dragonite, Dragonair finally managed to hit Lapras with a Thunder attack. This gave Dragonite an opening that he did not hesitate to take advantage of. He spewed a massive Flamethrower at Piloswine and the pig pokemon was engulfed in flames. Its long hair, which was used as an insulator, only helped increase the power of the flames.

Daisy and Butch, whose pokemon had just suffered the attacks, took immediate action. "Lapras, Rest." Said Daisy

"Piloswine get your lazy ass in gear and use Blizzard!" Snapped Butch

Lapras closed her eyes and began to regenerate her health. Meanwhile Piloswine struggled to his feet and let loose the most powerful Blizzard attack he could muster. The snow attack hit Dragonair full force but it didn't stop her from releasing one last Thunder attack on the sleeping Lapras. Both Pokemon went down and their trainers recalled them to their balls.

Alakazam had been mediating the whole time a few feet away from Gary. He'd been building up his psychic energies for one massive Psychic blast which he hoped would take out at least half of the enemy pokemon. Calling on all his psychic power he let loose a massive psycho-kinetic wave which thundered toward the enemy ranks. Piloswine was knocked against a tree by the force of the attack, Dewgong and Jynx were slammed into the ground, Raticate and Dunsparce were also hammered by the attack, Onix was forced to release Doduo and Graveler had to stop his pursuit of Umbreon because he to had been slammed into the ground. The only one not affected by the attack was Aerodactyl, this was because he was too high in the air and Alakazam didn't manage to hit him.

Gary looked around the field assessing the situation again. Arcanine, Nidoqueen and Nidoqueen were now within their pokeballs. Doduo and Alakazam were exhausted; one from having the life squeezed out of it the other from releasing such a powerful attack. He returned them to their pokeballs. He was now left with Umbreon, Blastoise, Scizor and Ditto. Claire only had Dragonite and Flygon.

Alakazam attack had incapacitated a few of the enemy pokemon. Piloswine was unconscious as well as Dewgong and Dunsparce. Raticate staggered to its feet and took its battling stance once more. Onix and Geodude pulled themselves from their self made craters and Aerodactyl continued to battle Scizor and Ditto in the air. With the prehistoric pokemon keeping two of Gary's pokemon occupied the battle was barely in Gary's favor.

Dragonite continued his rampage and started to assault Graveler and Geodude. He pounded them with Dragon Claws and Iron Tails flying around them like a blur. The two rock-pokemon didn't have time to mount any type of come back due to the dragon's incredible speed.

Brock saw the plight of his pokemon and again acted accordingly. "Underground now!" He called.

His pokemon did as they were told and endured Dragonite's assault as they dug into the ground. Once they were deep enough Dragonite couldn't attack them. He settled for joining the fight against Aerodactyl. The prehistoric pokemon had endured a lot of punishment from its doppelganger and Scizor. However it had dished out its share of punishment. Scizor had been the unfortunate victim of a close range Hyper Beam and was struggling to stay in the air. Ditto had been on the receiving end of quit a few Steel Wings and Take Downs itself. Both pokemon were heavily damaged, and besides their initial assaults, they had been unable to give Aerodactyl anything but superficial damage. This changed however when Dragonite crashed into the fossil pokemon and sent it spinning through the air with a thunderous Tackle. Ditto followed up the assault with a Steel Wing and Scizor chased it as well slicing it with a Metal Claw.

Creig watched his pokemon getting battered and finally had enough of it. "Aerodactyl, Ancient Power!" He ordered.

The stone bird started glowing with a red aura and several rocks around the valley were levitated and began to circle around the pokemon. More and more boulders were brought up to surround the pokemon and with one mighty shriek the stones were sent in all directions. They hammered Dragonite relentlessly and slammed into Scizor. Ditto folded its wings trying to protect itself but it was no use. The three pokemon went crashing to the ground all taken out by the awesome attack. Unfortunately for the Rockets Aerodactyl had expended too much energy with that attack and it too went crashing to the earth below.

"Useless pokemon." Muttered Creig as he returned Aerodactyl to its pokeball. He took out the Master Ball he'd been given by Giovoni and prepared to release his Trump Card.

While the battle against Aerodactyl had been going on Umbreon and Blastoise had been dealing with Jynx and Raticate. Since the two pokemon had suffered a great deal from Alakazam's attack it didn't take long for Gary's two strongest pokemon to take care of them. Two Faint Attacks to Jynx and a Hydro Pump to Raticate was all it took to send the two pokemon to dreamland.

Claire's Flygon had watched the battle intently waiting for an opening. Since it had found none it remained at its post by the rookery entrance. The dragon watched in awe as a flash of red light came from the field and a large blue bird came fourth from its Master Ball prison. Articuno flapped its wings several times and caused the air in the temperature in the valley to drop several degrees. Clouds began to roll in over the horizon and snow began to fall. Flygon shrunk back into the rookery and folded his wings over the pool of Dratini. He knew that if he was getting cold the smaller dragons had to be almost freezing. He used his internal fire to try and warm the water and keep the dratini warm. Unfortunately this took his attention away from the battle outside. Articuno had not been the only pokemon released. A Forretress had made its way into the rookery and was right behind Flygon. Claire, who had also been tending to the dratini from the other side of the pool, yelled a warning to her dragon, but it came too late. Forretress glowed a brilliant white and with a brilliant flash unleashed his Explosion attack. The attack caused the rookery to blast apart leaving the small building exposed to the elements. Flygon was lying face down beside the ruined pool and the dratini were all huddled together in what little remaining water there was.

Gary saw the explosion from the rookery and he and his pokemon rushed in that direction. He was stopped by Creig and Articuno. "I have to admit I didn't expect to see you here Oak." Said Creig "You should have learned your lesson about interfering with out plans by now."

"Your plans always involve hurting people and taking things that don't belong to you!" Spat Gary "You make me sick. Claiming to be strong when all you do is hide behind Giovoni and use drugged up pokemon. I bet you've never caught a single pokemon the way their meant to be captured."

Creig took the insults in stride. He could care less what some punk kid thought of him. "You may have a point with that statement." Said Creig "But I don't see it. I would offer you the chance to surrender, but I'd rather let Articuno freeze you to death."

"That overgrown pidgey isn't freezing anything." Said Gary He pulled a pokeball off of his belt and tossed it into the air. "Raikou you're up!"

"Raikou!" Said Creig confused "So you've got another Ditto that knows a few tricks."

Raikou appeared from his pokeball and roared thunderously. Electricity sparked all around him and the rampaging snow storm was now mixed with a powerful lighting storm. "This one's no fake." Smirked Gary "I won't let you destroy this place like you did Pallet!"

"There's not much you can do to stop me." Said Creig

Raikou glared up at the ice-bird in contempt. He was still very peeved about being left in a block of ice for almost a week. If he couldn't take his revenge on Suicune, Articuno was the next best thing.

…

("Richie the weather's starting to get dicey.") Said Zippo ("I need to land soon or else-") He was cut off when an extremely strong bolt of lighting struck him and his passengers. Zippo went hurling toward the ground and Richie had to jump off and do a front roll to avoid being seriously injured. The charizard landed with a resounding thud and made a crater in the ground. Richie heard a deep chuckling behind him and turned to see the smirking face of Lt. Surge. Richie had thought this man was dead and was shocked to see him all decked out in a Team Rocket uniform.

Surge had been stationed near the entrance to the Holy Land and had been waiting for someone to try and get through the cave entrance. He'd seen Richie's charizard flying and assumed it was one from Charicific Valley. It was common knowledge that Lisa, the proprietor of the valley, made regular visits to the Dragon's Holy Land. The fact that it was Richie who his Raichu had blasted out of the sky was highly amusing.

"Going for a joy ride kid?" Asked Surge still laughing. "Sorry I cut your flight short, but I can't have you going any further."

"Why are you doing this?" Asked Richie "I thought you were dead and now you're in Team Rocket!"

"Is that what the news said?" Asked Surge "I was wondering how our boss pulled that off. As for 'why?' I'm doing this. I have my reasons. At first it was because my pokemon were being threatened. But now its for the power and to get back at the government that wronged me out of my rightful place as general!" He seethed "I was suppose to get the promotion, I had the best qualifications, I had the most experience! But do I get it? NO! They give it to some rich ass punk who bribed the sons of bitches into giving him the position! So you wanted to know why? That's why!"

Richie was taken aback. He hadn't expected such an outburst. Surge was crazy. That much he could tell. The man's eyes seemed to be out of focus and his brow was knitted with fury. "Sparky, get ready." Said Richie "I don't think we're just going to be able to walk away from this one."

As Articuno's storm continued to increase the battle between Sparky and Raichu began. Sparky jumped off Richie's shoulder and hit the larger mouse in the stomach with a Volt Tackle. Raichu gasped in pain unprepared for the sudden attack.

"Raichu, don't let him get away with that!" Screamed Surge "Wrap that runt up with you're tail and Slam him!"

"Agility!" Countered Richie

Try as he might Raichu couldn't get his tail around Sparky. Finally Surge got frustrated and ordered a Body Slam. This too proved to be pointless since Sparky's superior speed allowed him to easily dodge the attacks.

"Sparky Thunderbolt." Said Richie.

The pikachu stopped running and let loose a fairly strong electrical attack. The shock managed to paralyze Raichu and left him completely vulnerable.

"Raichu shake it off!" Yelled Surge

"Sparky Quick Attack!" Ordered Richie.

Sparky moved at lightning speed and slammed into Raichu's open chest. The larger pokemon went tumbling and landed in a heap a few feet away from where he'd been standing. Surge recalled his fainted pokemon and sent out two Magnaton. The magnet pokemon sent off Thunder Waves as soon as they were out of their balls. Sparky didn't have time to dodge and he too was inflicted with paralysis. Unlike Surge, Richie knew when his pokemon couldn't take anymore. Sparky hadn't had much of a rest from dealing with the Rockets earlier that day and after dodging all of Raichu's attacks there was no way he could shake off the paralysis. Richie grudgingly recalled Sparky to his ball. He knew Sparky didn't like it, but he wasn't as adamant about not going in as Ash's Pikachu was.

Richie weighed his options. He had two electric-steel pokemon to deal with and only two flying pokemon to beat them with. The only choice he had was to call out his other fire-type pokemon. "Entei I choose you!" he said as he tossed out the Ultra Ball.

"What!" Yelled Surge "There's no way…" He was stopped mid speech when the Fire beast appeared from within the confines of the Ultra Ball.

Entei snorted in contempt when he saw the Magnaton in front of him. Without being ordered he roasted them with a Flamethrower. The pokemon immediately fainted due to the intense heat of the attack. Surge was flabbergasted. Never in a million years had he thought a legendary fire pokemon would actually be in the possession of a kid.

"You…you…" He couldn't find any words to say after such a crushing defeat, so he did the only thing a hardened military man like himself should do in a situation like this. He ran like hell!

Entei prepared to run after the fleeing human but Richie stopped him. "Let him go." He said "There's something else happening over there." He pointed to the direction of yellow and blue flashes.

("I smell…") Said Entei ("…Raikou…")

Entei ran toward the direction he sensed the other beast leaving Richie standing bewildered for a few seconds. Once the fact that his pokemon was gone sunk in he took off running after the beast.

…

Raikou dodged an Ice Beam which Articuno had sent his way. He countered with a Thunder bolt, but somehow the bird was able to dodge every attack he threw at it. Getting fed up with Articuno's constant evasion the thunder pokemon used Shock Wave. This attack was almost guaranteed to hit its intended target no matter what. A screen of electricity lanced out from Raikou's body and shot toward Articuno. As it traveled through the air the wave of electricity expanded and started to look like a net. Articuno tried to move but the attack was covering such a large area that evasion was impossible. The bird screeched in pain as the electricity lanced through its body and it started to descend toward the ground.

Raikou didn't get a chance to capitalize on the bird's predicament however, because a pair of hands suddenly snaked up from beneath him and grabbed each one of his legs. Then a giant rock-serpent burst through the ground behind him and slammed into him at full force. The hands around his legs didn't let go however. The pokemon underneath of him used the momentum generated by its partner to perform a Super Seismic Toss which slammed the pokemon into the ground and caused a tremendous crater.

"Looks like those pokemon of yours aren't useless Slate." Commented Creig

"You'd be surprised." Said Brock _Fucking bastard _He added mentally cursing Creig.

Gary watched in horror as his pokemon was pounded by a three-way assault. Onix had wrapped the beast up and was slowly squeezing him to death. Meanwhile Graveler had floated up to the rear of the beast and was using Mega Punch over and over again on the thunder pokemons backside. Articuno opted to fire pinpointed Ice Beams at various places along Raikou's front. Gary needn't have worried long however. A Hydro Pump slammed into Graveler and Onix. The rock-serpent immediately released Raikou and Umbreon caught the thunder beast before he could hit the ground. Raikou was much bigger than Umbreon so the moonlight pokemon had to drop his load quickly. Umbreon started glowing a faint silver color as he started absorbing what little moonlight was seeping through the clouds. The battle had started a little before sunset and now it was very dark. With the snow and the clouds the only light that was being shown was from the lighting cloud which was still mixed in with the snow storm. Once Umbreon had a sufficient supply of energy he used Helping Hand to transfer it to Raikou. The thunder pokemon slowly got to his feet and charged back into battle.

Blastoise had made short work of Onix and Graveler, taking them out with massive Water Gun attacks from his cannons. Now that left him facing Articuno while Umbreon took care of Raikou. He dodged the Ice Beams that were being fired his way and shot back with Water Guns that were also dodged. This stalemate continued for some time until Blastoise felt a large amount of electricity being generated behind him. He moved to the side just in time to avoid being hit with the Zap Cannon Raikou had been charging. The beam of electricity hit Articuno head on. The bird had been so focused on Blastoise that it didn't even see the thunder pokemon behind him. Once again electricity sizzled through the bird's body and once again Articuno screamed in pain. This time Raikou was ready and launched himself toward the bird with a Volt Tackle. Articuno couldn't dodge the attack and was brought to the ground with colossal force. Raikou slashed at the bird's chest over and over again. Articuno finally collapsed into unconsciousness unable to endure the pain.

Creig was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that Raikou to be the real thing and he had been sure that Articuno, with its training and enhancements could handle the task of defeating the thunder pokemon. He glared at Gary and recalled Articuno. "Don't think this is over Oak!" He called "It's too bad your family's going to have to suffer for this!"

"What!" Called Gary "My family's dead, you killed them when you attacked Pallet. I heard the news. NO SURVIVORS."

"That's were you're wrong." Said Creig "Your grandpa and sister are currently our 'guests'."

"They won't be for long." Said Gary "I'm going to get them out. And don't think you can threaten me with my family. My Gramps and May wouldn't want me selling out to the likes of you!"

Something about Gary's words stirred something in Brock, but he quickly pushed it back down. He and Gary were two different people and saw things different ways. If he betrayed Team Rocket now Brock saw it as also being responsible for his family's death. He couldn't live with that, it was too much to bare.

"Creig we got what we came for let's go!" Said Fiona

Gary looked into the distance and barely made out a large blimp. The snow was clearing now and he could see that the rest of the Rockets were aboard. He looked toward the remains of the rookery and saw that Claire and her pokemon were still unconscious as but the dratini that had been there were now gone. He put two and two together and looked at his pokemon. They were all tired from the battle and it didn't look like they would be able to make it over to the blimp in time. Creig and Brock had already started running and Gary ran after them.

"Guys we can't let them get away!" He called.

He needn't have worried though. A huge fireball suddenly engulfed the blimp and a figure came running from the southeast. Richie had barely managed to catch up to Entei and when he saw the blimp and the Rockets he automatically made the correct assumptions. The Rockets had something in the blimp that obviously didn't belong to them and were trying to make a clean get away. He had asked Entei to use a Fire Blast on the blimp and the volcano pokemon had obliged. Now All Richie needed to do was get whatever was onboard off of the blimp before it exploded. "Happy, Rose, I choose you!" He said. His Butterfree and Tellow appeared form their balls finally seeing some action in this day filled with battles. "Happy use Psychic to keep the fire from hitting the fuel tank. Rose fly in and find what the Rockets are keeping. Entei follow her and see if you can't get it out of their. Hurry!"

The pokemon quickly started following orders and set off to do their respective tasks. Happy's eyes started to glow blue and he started to hold the flames back with his Psychic attack. Rose flew through the air like a dart and went into the flaming blimp. She used her gust attack to blow away the smoke and flew through the zeppelin in search of something out of the ordinary. She wasn't sure what that was, but she figured she'd know when she found it. Entei followed the bird into the flames not bothering to go around them. The fire felt good on his body after being cramped up for so long inside the pokeball. He saw that the bird was circling around something and went up to it to see a crate full of dratini. Entei went to one side of the crate and began pushing it toward a hole in the side of the blimp.

Meanwhile Gary had made it to the blimp and was standing at the hole that Entei was pushing the crate toward. Gary didn't know how another legendary beast was here but he was glad for the assistance. He had Blastoise stand under the hole and catch the crate as it was pushed out of the side. Once the dratini were secure the pokemon quickly vacated the blimp.

"Their getting away with out pokemon!" Roared Butch "Creig do something!"

"What do you want me to do!" Yelled back Creig "We can't worry about those pokemon right now, we gotta get off this blimp befor-" He didn't get to finish because Happy had released his hold over the flames near the fuel tank and a huge explosion ripped through the zeppelin. The Rockets were sent hurling toward the horizon leaving the Dragon Holy Land in failure and completely empty handed.

_I always wondered what this felt like. _Thought Brock _Well only one thing to do now…_

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiin!" Cried the entire group.

…

Several hours later Claire came around to find herself staring at two concerned male faces. She recognized one as Gary Oak and the other was…Ash Ketchum? No, it wasn't him although he did look similar.

"So you're finally awake." Said Gary "I have to admit I wasn't expecting a Rocket ambush when I came here."

"I wasn't even planning on stopping here." Said the other trainer. "That bastard Surge hit Zippo with a Thunder attack and he went crashing to the ground."

"Well Richie it's a good thing you did stop here." Said Gary. "You're the reason Team Rocket didn't get away with the dratini."

"The dratini are alright!" Asked Claire relieved. "I was sure they were goners when that Forretress exploded in the rookery." She then remembered her other pokemon that were in the rookery. "Are Flygon and Dragonair alright? What happened to Dragonite?"

"Their all fine." Said Gary "A bit beaten up but fine."

Claire sighed in relief and started to relax until she remembered who was in the room with her. "You!" She said pointing to Gary "You're the one who burned down that town in Kanto!"

"Do you honestly believe _I _burned down _my _hometown?" Asked Gary "That was Team Rocket. Although it is partially my fault that it was burned down."

"What do you mean?" Asked Claire "You said you didn't do it so how could it possibly be your fault?"

"It was because I tried to expose Giovoni." Said Gary "Me and a friend of Ash's went into the Veridian Gym and tried to get evidence of Giovoni's crimes against pokemon and human alike. We did manage to get several pictures, but Giovoni was on to me. He sent out a Lugia of all things and almost whipped the floor with me and my pokemon. My Alakazam just managed to get us out of their and me and Todd had to part ways. Just before we teleported I heard Giovoni say I'd pay for what I did. The only way he could make me pay if I escaped was to destroy what was important to me. So he took my family and my friends away." He said sadly "I tried to get back in time to warn everyone but all I had that could fly was my Scizor. We were attacked by a flock of spearow and their leader, Fearow, while we were over Tojo Falls. That's how I ended up in Johto."

"I see." Said Claire "I always knew Giovoni was up to something. Then after my brother and the Elite Four were killed he was the first one I suspected. Then when the Kanto Gyms were destroyed and the only two remaining were his Gym and the one in Fuschia I knew something was _really _wrong. Him being elected Prime Minister only helped fortify what I already thought. I have to ask you though Gary, why did you come here?"

"Elm told me you were against Giovoni." Said Gary "I thought that if I came here you might be able to help me."

"Help you do what?" Asked Claire, she had an idea of what he probably meant, but she needed to hear it from him.

"I want to take him out." Said Gary his temper rising. "He took everything away from me. First most of my pokemon, then my home and now he's taken my family, my only family, hostage. I can't let him get away with that. I won't!"

Richie whistled in amazement. He'd known of the events of the past few months but he had no idea they ran this deep. Seeing the look in Gary's eyes Richie could tell he was telling the truth. "I don't know if Claire can help you, but I'm willing to give it a try."

"Yeah, you and your pokemon would help out a whole lot." Said Gary "Especially Entei."

"What!" Asked Claire. Hearing about the legendary pokemon reminded her of Articuno. "Is that what took out Articuno?"

"Articuno was here!" Asked Richie. Things were really starting to get weird.

"No Raikou did." Said Gary

"I think you two have some explaining to do." Said Claire.

It took almost an hour to explain the events which led to the "capture" of the legendary beasts. Claire had asked many questions and only been given a few answers since Gary and Richie didn't know much about why the beasts had chosen them anyway. All they knew was that something important was about to happen and that all three legendary beasts had needed to choose trainers. They had no idea who Suicune had chosen and neither did Entei or Raikou. It was decided that the two trainers stay in Blackthorn for the time being. Gary could stay in the Holy Land and help protect the dratini in case Team Rocket came back again. Richie would help and both of them would aid Claire in rebuilding the damaged rookery. They also decided to make preliminary plans for overthrowing Giovoni's regime. The first step in those plans was tracking down Todd. So with their plans in order they all settled down for some very much needed rest.

…

**A/N: Woah dude! This chapter was almost as big as the one with Misty's little 'mind voyage' I am tired now so I am gonna stop. This was my first time trying to write a massive battle scene. Please let me know how I did and if you have any HELPFUL suggestions on how I can improve on scenes like these (which would greatly be appreciated since this one was the first of several) I implore you to put it in a review. And if you don't have anything in the line of advice leave a review anyway. I'll get the next installment up when I can. The daily updates are going to come to an end soon unfortunately. I am enjoying writing this fic, but I have to start classes on the 19 of this month and after that I can't tell you how long it will be between updates. I'm glad so many people are enjoying this fic, I have gotten way more reviews then I expected with much more positive feedback than I could have hoped for. With that said I will stop my ramblings.**

**Until Next Time…**


	22. The Search For Peace and Quiet

The Search for Peace…and Quiet

Nirvana, the state of absolute enlightenment. It took an immense amount of meditation to achieve such a state. One had to delve deep into their own mind and bring up calming thoughts which would enable you to sense the world around you and enter a state which could only be described as eternal bliss. And this is what Mewtwo was attempting to do.

He closed his eyes and floated in the air. It was easy for him to mediate. In fact it was one of the attacks he used right before he was drawn into a battle. However the mediation he needed to do required a tranquil environment with little to no distraction. He started to delve into his mind relaxing himself with calming thoughts. He could feel the sea stretching out with all its vastness. He could feel the wind gently brushing against his skin. However he didn't notice the pink creature that was behind him.

("Mewtwo!") Yelled Mew

Mewtwo was shocked out of his meditative state and rounded on the smaller pokemon. "What is it this time?" He asked annoyed "I already told you I have no interest in mating especially with you."

("Whatever.") Said Mew ("Your loss not mine. Anyway I need you to help me find where Rayquaza went.")

"Can't you sense him yourself?" Asked Mewtwo "It isn't as if he is a dark-type. You should be able to find him no matter where he is."

("I know where he is now.") Said Mew ("I need to know where he went though. You're better at tracing energy paths than me so I came to ask you for help.")

"Why do you think I would help you?" Asked Mewtwo "All you've done since we left New Island is bother me on a constant basis about either finding my purpose or helping you conceive."

("That's not true!") Said Mew ("Sometimes I ask you about the other clones and sometimes I just bother you for no reason, other than the fact that its fun.")

"If I do this for you, will you leave me alone?" Asked Mewtwo hopefully

("I suppose.") Said Mew

"Let me ask you one thing though." Said Mewtwo "If you want to know where Rayquaza went why didn't you just ask him?"

("He won't tell me." Said Mew "And he marked his passenger so now I can't get an exact fix on his position. I could just scout around the area, but I honestly don't feel like doing that.")

"You really need to get off your high horse." Said Mewtwo "Head due west from here and look in a valley in the middle of the Johto region."

("You did it already?") Asked Mew impressed ("Whatever training you're giving yourself must be paying off.")

"Yes it is done." Said Mewtwo "Now leave me alone so I can get back to my mediation."

("Fine go ahead.") Said Mew. She floated into the sky and shot off due west.

_Finally _Thought Mewtwo. He closed his eyes and began concentrating again. He wasn't mediating long before a flock of farfetch'd decided that the deserted island was a perfect place to spend the winter. The infernal squawking of the birds made it impossible for Mewtwo to concentrate. In the early days of his life he would have simply destroyed the birds for disturbing his peace. As it was now he resigned to find another place to meditate. A place he was sure no one would bother him.

…

Cold wouldn't begin to describe the climate in the South Pole. The temperature was an astounding 130 degrees below zero. As cold as it was this was where Mewtwo decided to spend his time mediating. He closed his eyes and levitated a short distance off the ice-covered ground. He delved into his mind and began soothing himself with calming thoughts. He could feel every snowflake as it touched down and every gust of frigid wind as it wafted over the landscape. He was beginning to feel the cold ocean water and the various water-pokemon that swam in its depths. He could sense the droplets of water in the clouds above and began to see the different life cycles of molecules and unicellular creatures throughout the atmosphere.

Unfortunately for Mewtwo his peace was once again shattered by a loud roar.

("This land now belongs to Groudon!") Screamed a loud voice over the tundra. ("I shall cleanse this land of Kyogre's watery waste and bring about a new age ruled by the land!")

_Of all the places he could go _Thought Mewtwo exasperated. The temperature was slowly but surely rising and soon it got well above freezing. The ice began to melt and land long since frozen began to turn into mud. Mewtwo realized that if this continued there could be a very big problem for the rest of the world. He resigned himself to do something about Groudon and flew over to wear the beast was "staking his claim"

"Do you realize that by melting the South Pole you're going to expand the oceans even more?" Asked Mewtwo

("What!") Asked Groudon ("That's not possible. I am evaporating this accursed ice and reclaiming the land which it has drowned for so long!")

"You're only melting the ice." Said Mewtwo slowly. He felt like he was talking to a three year-old. "The ice turns into _water_ and the water flows back into the _ocean_."

Groudon thought about this for a moment. It took several seconds for his brain to process all that Mewtwo had said. When he finally did understand he sighed. ("No matter what I do I can't seem to win the battle.") He moaned ("After all these millennia Kyogre is still winning.")

"Why is it you want to expand the land so much anyway?" Asked Mewtwo. This was a question he had been wondering about since he discovered the existence of the two ancient enemies.

("I was one of the first pokemon on this planet, as was Kyogre.") We were commissioned by Mew and Ho-Oh to create _equal_ land and water across the planet. We did as we were told and that was that. We then hibernated and stayed that way. At least that's how we were before _he _came.")

"He?" Asked Mewtwo

("Yes, the destroyer, the cataclysm. He came from the heavens millions of years ago. Nearly destroyed the world.") Said Groudon ("He found Kyogre and I resting in the Cave of Origin and used his powers to control us. He made us keep expanding the land and the ocean just for laughs. Eventually we grew to hate each other and hate our 'master' even more. Eventually Rayquaza managed to defeat the entity and seal him away. Unfortunately Kyogre and I were still trying to outdo each other. Our resulting battle nearly destroyed the planet again. Rayquaza sent us into a slumbering state and housed our power within two orbs. Every few millennia or so we would wake up, fight, and get sent back to sleep by one of Rayquaza's descendants. Even though our 'master' was sealed away the animosity between Kyogre and myself remains.")

"If you know it was your master's doing then why can't you just forget the silly feud?" Asked Mewtwo.

("It all comes down to purpose.") Said Groudon ("If I don't battle Kyogre now I have no purpose.")

"I can understand that." Said Mewtwo. He was still looking for his purpose in life so was very empathetic to Groudon's situation. "You do know that you can find another purpose thought don't you?"

("And what would that be?") Asked Groudon

"That is for you to find." Said Mewtwo

("Perhaps.") Said Groudon ("I must leave this place now and try to correct some of the damage I caused. The land must be restored!")

"Did you hear a word I just said?" Asked Mewtwo. Groudon ignored him and levitated a chunk of rock which he used to float off into the distance. He now left a melting icescape behind there were now mudslides and avalanches. The temperature was also starting to decline again and the water was slowly freezing up once more. Unfortunately the noise was too much for Mewtwo and he once again had to find another place to meditate in solitude.

…

The sky. It was very vast and seemed to go on forever. Once one got into a high enough altitude the clouds could be seen stretching out below like snow covered mountain peaks. It took a lot of concentration to remain stationary at such a high altitude, but this was where Mewtwo was attempting to achieve enlightenment. He delved into his mind once again and once again he calmed his mind and let his essence seep into his surroundings. He was slowly becoming a part of the sky. He could see the land stretching out below him like a beautiful mural. He was almost there, he could feel it and he could also feel a tremendous force slamming into him from the side. The impact snapped him out of his concentration and sent him flipping end over end though the air. He saw a large green dragon looking very confused.

"Oh man! I am so sorry." Said Rayquaza "I didn't even see you there!"

Mewtwo groaned and shook his head several times to clear the cobwebs. "Why did you have to be in _this_ part of the sky!" Asked Mewtwo highly annoyed. He couldn't understand why he kept being disturbed.

"Weekly sweep." Said Rayquaza "I have to go around and make sure all those fumes the humans release don't damage the ozone layer too much. I'm gonna be heading back through here at least ten more times today, so I'd advise you to just stay out of this altitude if you don't want to be bothered."

Mewtwo sighed and began to descend through the clouds and back toward the surface of the planet. _There has to be somewhere no one will bother me._ He thought to himself.

…

Mt. Battle loomed over the desert expanse of the Orre region. The humongous volcano was home to several caves. Mewtwo decided that this would be an ideal place to be left alone. No one would be stupid enough to venture inside of an active volcano. He didn't even get to start meditating this time however. It seemed that the cave was home to a family of Slugma and Magcargo. They didn't seem too happy with their visitor so Mewtwo resigned himself to find a nice quiet place in the middle of the desert. The first thing he noticed when he exited the cave however. Was that it was pouring down rain. It only rained once a year in the Orre region and that had happened two months ago. This was obviously unnatural, but Mewtwo was now at the point that he didn't care. He was now desperate to find some place that would offer him the peace and quiet he needed.

…

This was the last place _anyone _would come to in order to find tranquility. However Mewtwo also knew that to find something it was often in the place one least suspected. He shielded himself from human view as he floated to the top of Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town. The tower was home to a multitude of ghost pokemon. The Kanto government had tried to convert the tower into a radio station a few years ago and it seemed as if it was working. However the ghosts of the tower only allowed them to think it was working and one day during broadcasts the ghosts took over the airways and spread false news reports which caused wide spread panic and chaos throughout the region. After that the tower was closed down and the ghosts flourished in it more so than ever before. Mewtwo knew that the ghosts wouldn't normally give him a moment's peace. However he was in no mood for their games and decided to make that plain from the start. He landed on the top of the tower and was immediately surrounded by ghosts.

("Look a new audience!") Said a Gengar ("He looks like he could use a laugh.")

("Yeah lets drop a chandelier on his head and see what happens!") Said a Gastly

"I will say this once and once only." Said Mewtwo "I am here to meditate and I would strongly advise you NOT to disturb me in any way. If you value your afterlives you will keep any outside intrusions in the tower to a minimum."

("And what are you gonna do if we don't?") Asked Gengar ("All I sense in you is psychic energy and that can't hurt us!") He laughed at Mewtwo and the others joined in. They stopped laughing when Mewtwo combined a Shadow Ball with a Psychic attack and sent them all sprawling across the room of the tower.

"That." Said Mewtwo "Only it will be 100 times worse."

The ghosts got up and floated back down to the bottom level. Finally Mewtwo could get some peace. He was certain that the ghosts would leave him alone and didn't feel guilty about hurting them since he'd given them fair warning. He closed his eyes and began searching for Nirvana once again. This time he was certain he would get it.

…

**A/N: So we finally see what good ol' Mewtwo's been up to. Too bad he kept getting interrupted, but maybe now he'll get what he wants. Knowing what I do about the future plot though I'm gonna place my bets that he doesn't. Leave all questions, comments and concerns in a review or leave a review anyway if you've read this chapter. We will finally be seeing what Ash has been doing in the next chapter so look out for it.**

**Until Next Time…**


	23. Where Am I?

**To the Reviewers**

**First off let me thank you all once again for the reviews. Since I didn't put one of these in Chapter 22, reviews from chapter 21 and 22 will be referred to here.**

**Cdfe88-That was weird that you'd ask that. The chapter was finished before 21 was posted so yeah freaky. As for Latias and/or Latios being in it. At this time I will have to say no. I haven't seen Pokemon 5 so I don't know much about the background of those two pokemon. I could always do my own but still. You wanted to know what grade I'm in? Graduated high school in June 04, so that puts me at grade…um…bottom line I am starting college classes on the 19.**

**Ri2-Glad you liked the battle. I was worried that it'd be kind of confusing with all that stuff going on, but since I got a lot of compliments on that chapter I guess I was worried for no reason. Lmao. Pink whore. She has found another pokemon though. However its doubtful this particular pokemon will want to have anything to do with her either. Yes Kyogre is in Orre.**

**JMK-Yeah Mewtwo has it kind of rough huh?**

**Thebenjamin-Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you liked the battle so much. I'm sad the daily updates are going to end soon too. I am having fun writing this, but of course responsibility must rear its ugly head. DAMN YOU RESPONSIBLILITY!**

**Kgmck-117-Let me thank you for single handedly raising my review count like 20. I was very surprised when I opened my mailbox and saw that I had 20 new messages. 19 of them were you reviewing every chapter as you read it and the other one was someone else. I do have to ask though. Why'd you keep telling me to update before you got to chapter 21? Also Rayquaza wasn't yelling. He was speaking in his omnipotent voice. I see that as similar to Shenron talking. Also Mew and Mewtwo won't be getting together and having lots of babies, At least not as long as I'm writing this anyway. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying this.**

**Now on with the story! **

Where Am I?

Ash surveyed his surroundings carefully. He was surrounded by mountains on all but one side. This made his choice of walking very simple. He walked toward the only clear direction which happened to be north. Along the way he found a river flowing from one of the mountain ranges and he and his pokemon stopped for a break.

"Man I am tired." Sighed Ash

("You're not the only one.") Huffed Mune

("Yeah all that battling then all this walking is exhausting.") Agreed Dawn.

("You haven't even really battled.") Said Mune ("What do you have to complain about.")

"Please don't start guys." Moaned Ash. This type of conversation had been common ever since they had landed here. Wherever here was.

("Hey isn't that mark cool?") Asked Mune ("I've never seen anything like it!")

Dawn looked up at Ash's forehead and stared for a while ("Did it hurt?") She asked

"Not really, a little at first but then no." Said Ash "What's it look like anyway?"

Ash had examined his forehead with his fingers and found that the skin was still smooth as if the mark had been a tattoo.

("You might want to look for yourself.") Said Mune ("It's kind of hard to describe.")

Ash shrugged and walked over to the river. The water wasn't flowing particularly fast and the water was very clear so it was easy to spot a reflection. Ash looked down and gasped at what he saw. He lifted a finger to his forehead and began tracing the mark.

It was black in color and seemed to depict an outline of the world inside of a peace symbol. However coiling through the symbol was what Ash could only think of to be an image of Rayquaza himself. The dragon's head came up right above the center of the peace mark where the world was depicted. He was frozen in a mighty roar seemingly challenging anyone to defy what the symbol signified. He couldn't help but stare at it for several minutes.

("Told you it was cool.") Said Mune smirking.

"Yeah." Said Ash "But it does kind of stand out."

The mark was in the center of Ash's forehead and had about an inch and a half radius all the way around. With his hat on only the bottom of the mark could be seen, but it still stood out.

("It's not that bad.") Said Mune ("At least you don't have a weird mark on your head and have to be a different color than every other Espeon.")

"Yeah I suppose it could be worse."

("You're color doesn't bother me Mune.") Said Dawn honestly.

("You don't count.") Said Mune

("What!") Asked Dawn hurt

("That's not what I meant.") Explained Mune quickly ("It's just that you've been my friend since we were really little so you got used to it.")

("Whatever.") Said Dawn she was still pretty hurt but decided to let it go.

As they continued on their way Ash could make out more mountains in the distance. They were still a good ways away but they didn't look as tall as the mountains on the other side of him. Ash was so caught up in the scenery that he didn't notice the large winged shadow that was flying very low over his group. He did however notice when a pair of orange claws grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground.

"Waaah!" He cried "What the hell!"

("Intruders must be expelled from the Valley!") Said the voice of the thing carrying him.

("Ash!") Cried Dawn and Mune after they were picked up by another beast.

("Ash!") Asked the thing carrying him. ("Hey Charla put them down. I thought he looked familiar, the different hat threw me off.")

The beast gently sat Ash on the ground. Then blasted him with a low powered Flamethrower. "Hi, Charizard." Muttered Ash.

Charizard grimed sheepishly at his former trainer. ("Sorry about that.") He said ("You just look a little different from when I saw you last. You're taller a bit more lean and the hat's different. What happened to you anyway? You look like you've been through hell.")

"Not quite." Said Ash "But close enough. So Rayquaza put me off in Charicific Valley. I wonder why?"

("Rayquaza?") Asked Charla who had landed and released Dawn and Mune. ("The Dragon God brought you here?")

"Yeah." Answered Ash "He even gave me this." He pulled off his hat and looked up at the two fire-dragons. "Something about being marked as his chosen or something."

("Yes that is what that mark signifies.") Said Charla ("All dragon-types and a few dragon-like pokemon such as ourselves know that mark.")

("I didn't know what it was.") Admitted Charizard "I thought it was just some kind of tattoo.")

("You don't know because you never paid attention during the elder's lectures.") Snapped Charla

("It is not my fault that they are boring.") Huffed Charizard

"Hey guys?" Said Ash "Doesn't Lisa have a Nurse Joy hired here?"

("Yeah why?") Asked Charizard

"Well I have a lot of pokemon that need treatment." Answered Ash

("I'll take you over there. You don't want to walk, trust me.") Said Charizard. ("Hey where's Pikachu and who are they?" He asked while letting Ash get on his back.

"Pikachu's in his pokeball, He's hurt pretty bad." Said Ash "Those two, the Espeon is Mune and the Eevee is Dawn."

The two in question had opted to sit in front of Ash even though Charla offered to carry them. After being snatched up like prey for a hungry predator they were more than just a little weary of the charizards.

By air it only took about 15 minutes to reach the real entrance to the valley. The large building sat at the top of a smaller mountain that separated the valley from the rest of Johto. Charizard landed on the room of the building and his passengers dismounted and headed into the building.

Lisa, who had been waiting for Charizard and Charla's daily reports on activities in the valley was shocked when she saw a young man a little over six feet tall, with semi-long black-hair, brown eyes and a red cap walk in. His clothes, which appeared to have once been a black shit and blue jeans were covered in dirt and ripped in several places. He was followed by an Espeon and an Eevee. Charizard stuck his head around the top of the stairway and shouted to Lisa. ("You remember Ash right Lisa?")

"Ash!" Asked Lisa "As in your old trainer?"

"Yeah that's me." Said Ash. His voice was deeper but it could still be distinguished as his.

"What happened to you?" She asked seeing his current state.

"Long story." Said Ash "I really need a shower, a change a clothes and a Pokemon Center for my pokemon."

"I'll see what I can do about the shower and clothes but a Pokemon Center is built onto this compound."

"Then lets go there first." Said Ash.

…

Pikachu opened his eyes to find himself in a very tight space. He hadn't felt like he was this closed in since he had last been in his pokeball. Looking around environment he came to two starling realizations. The first was that his ribs really hurt, but the pain was slowly going away. The second and more important thing he realized was that he was IN his pokeball. He wondered how he'd gotten in there. The last thing he remembered was seeing the ground approaching very fast while he was bound up in Rayquaza's tail. He didn't know what had happened after that, but what he did know was that when he got out of this ball a certain someone was going to learn the meaning of the were shock all over again. As time went on pikachu's pain began to ease to the point were it was nonexistent. A few moments later he heard a beeping noise and he suddenly felt himself being lifted. There was a red flash and he suddenly felt solid ground beneath his feet. He looked up into the concerned face of Ash.

"You okay Pikachu?" Asked Ash

For an answer pikachu sparked his cheeks. "Pikaaa…" He began charging up a strong Thunder Shock.

"Hey Pikachu wait!" Yelled Ash "You know I only did it because I had to!"

His pleas were in vein. "…CHUUU!" A very strong jolt of electricity worked its way through Ash's body and he screamed in pain. ("You know I hate those things!") Said Pikachu

A smoldering Ash looked to his left and addressed Lisa "That's why I said I'd wait to get a shower."

"I see." She said nervously since Pikachu was still sparking a little bit. "Well I suppose I'd better show you where you'll be staying."

"Staying?" Asked Ash "I appreciate the offer Lisa, but I really need to get going."

("Going where?") Asked Pikachu ("Hey where did you get that tattoo?") He had just now noticed the mark on Ash's head.

"I'll tell you later." Said Ash

"Ash Charla told me what that mark means." Said Lisa "I think you need to stay here for a while."

"Why's that?" Said Ash "I have a lot of training I need to do and places I need to be." He actually had no idea where he should go from here, but he wasn't about to admit this.

"I got a call from Claire in Blackthorn yesterday." She said "With you being marked as a chosen and everything I think we she said may interest you. Besides that there's something of a personal nature I think you might need to be aware of."

"What could that be?" Asked Ash.

"Do the names Richie Trainum and Gary Oak mean anything to you?" She asked.

"Their friends of mine." Said Ash.

"Well it seems they were both in the Dragon's Holy Land two nights ago when Team Rocket attacked it." She said.

"Team Rocket attacked the WHAT!" Said Ash yelling in surprise. "You've got to be kidding me."

("I believe it.") Said Pikachu ("They did do all other stuff didn't they?")

"Yeah you're right." Said Ash "Every time I hear Team Rocket I automatically think of Jessie and James. As pathetic as they are they still managed to get through to my subconscious with that damn motto of theirs."

"Well from what I understand these Rockets were nothing like them." Said Lisa "They wanted to steel some newly hatched dratini. There were ten of them. And…" She trailed off.

"And what?" Asked Ash "Come on you can tell me."

Well Claire said one of them was Brock." Said Lisa "There were some other Gym Leaders there too. From Celadon, Vermillion and Cerulean."

"Cerulean…!" Asked Ash quietly. _No, Misty can't be… _He thought to himself _She'd never work for Team Rocket but neither would Brock. _"You've got be mistaken." He said "Brock would never work for them, and neither would any of the other Gym Leaders."

"Brock's pokemon are Onix, Graveler and Forretress right?" Asked Lisa. Ash nodded "Well Ash I hate to say this but Claire, Gary and Richie all said that the guy looked and sounded like Brock and he had those pokemon."

"No he can't be…" Said Ash but his doubt was beginning to waver. He couldn't deny what Lisa was telling him. Brock and Misty must be working for Team Rocket now. Why they were doing it he couldn't say, but whatever reasons they had he was sure they were damn good ones.

…

After explaining to Ash what Claire had said about Gary and Richie being with two legendary pokemon. Ash decided that he would head for Blackthorn once he left the valley. Lisa and Charizard had convinced Ash to stay in the valley and train his pokemon with the overly strong charizards in the valley. Ash had agreed feeling as though he needed some rest anyway.

Lisa had given Ash and his pokemon a fairly large room at the pokemon center. She even managed to find him a few spare clothes. He now wore a new pair of jeans, which happened to be black, and a bright orange shirt to go with them. When he put on his very battered cap he realized that unlike his other outfits , this one didn't match at all. Resigning that beggars couldn't be choosers and the fact that he really didn't care much about how he looked, he set out for a day of training.

Ash went into the pokemon center after changing to check on his pokemon. His poke'dex was now completely drained since he transferred the rest of his pokemon to the Johto region and stored them in the PC at the Pokemon Center. He'd given all of his pokemon to Nurse Joy so that she could check them all out and warn him of any abnormalities. All of his pokemon were fine except for Snorlax who wouldn't wake up so Joy couldn't give him a proper examination. Ash figured that the sleeping pokemon was fine since he hadn't really battled in a while.

Once Ash chose his six pokemon to use in training for the day he set off to find Charizard, who had promised to assist Ash in with his training. Once outside it didn't take long to find the dragon since he greeted Ash with an enthusiastic Flamethrower.

"Do you have to do that every time you see me?" Asked Ash

Charizard shrugged. ("Force of habit")

"If you say so Charizard." Said Ash doubtfully, He knew Charizard did it because he found it amusing to singe Ash at every chance he got.

Charizard took Ash to a low-lying plateau to begin the days training.

("Hey Ash where's Pikachu?") Asked Charizard ("And those other two?")

"Pikachu said he wanted to take it easy today since his ribs were still fragile." Said Ash "Dawn and Mune opted to keep him company."

("So then whose training today?") Asked Charizard.

"Let's see." Kingler, Snorlax, Muk, Tauros, Bagon and…" He looked down when he felt a ball that was larger than the others. He distinctly remembered leaving this pokeball in the PC. The only way it could be on his belt was if someone else put it on there when he had his back turned. He had a feeling he knew who too.

…

An hour earlier

…

Pikachu watched as Ash picked out his pokemon to train. He saw Ash's first five picks and then looked at the last pokeball he withdrew, which contained Phampy. Pikachu was glad Ash was giving a new team a try. He loved his trainer, but always being the one to battle got tiring. Pikachu watched the screen and saw that the curser was still on the withdraw page. Ash stood up and fastened the new pokeballs to his belt. The sensory beam for the transfer device was pointed right at Phampy's pokeball. Pikachu saw Ash giving off a purple aura and his hand accidentally hit the enter key. Phampy's pokeball disappeared without Ash even noticing. The spot on Ash's belt was soon filled once again with the only Ultra Ball in Ash's collection, Onix.

_Should I warn Ash? _Thought Pikachu _Nah, he'll come away with this in one piece. Knowing his dumb luck Onix might be 100 obedient. _Himself reassured Pikachu settled down for some much deserved rest.

…

Now

…

("What's in that gold one?") Asked Charizard.

"Onix." Said Ash "He's not what you would call, thrilled to be my pokemon."

("Then why not just let him go?") Asked the dragon.

"He'd try to kill me once he was free." Said Ash.

("Sounds interesting.") Said Charizard. ("I thought I was a problem. This guy has me way beat!")

"Why did you not obey me anyway Charizard?" Asked Ash "When you were a Charmander you never complained about anything, but once you evolved that first time you wouldn't do a thing I asked."

Charizard stopped chuckling about Onix and looked down at Ash. ("For now I'd like to keep that to myself." He said "It doesn't matter now so there's no need for you to worry about it.")

"Its okay Charizard." Assured Ash "I was just wondering. You don't have to tell me if it bothers you."

The subject was dropped and Ash released all his pokemon. All that is except for Onix. He had Muk, and Kingler spar around the sleeping Snorlax, while Bagon danced and dodged around Tauros' horn strikes. A gust of wind just happened to blow by while a purple aura surrounded Ash. The wind picked up a rock that somehow made its way to the center of the release button on Ash's Ultra Ball. There was a red flash and suddenly a very large and very angry looking Onix loomed over the plateau.

…

Aquaria had no idea where she was. A short time ago the compos she was using went haywire. It had been pointing northeast for some reason and then whenever she would turn the needle would automatically go northeast again. This made navigation difficult. She was regretting all those times she'd yelled at Ash for getting them lost. It was harder then it looked, which was why it had always been Brock to get them out of being lost and not her. She wondered how Brock and her sisters were fairing. Were they still on that underwater base? Were they still being tortured? She also wondered about Ash. Even though her feelings for him were confusing right now she still considered him at least a friend and so was worried about him. Had he found out about Pallet? Did he know his mother was dead? After thinking about Ash she came to a realization. She was heading to Pallet and if Ash knew that his hometown was destroyed and that his mother was dead, wouldn't he come home too? So what if by some happenstance she were to cross paths with Ash. Would he recognize her? If he didn't would she reveal who she was to him? Would he even care either way? She assured herself that the last one was only due to that dream she had had while going through her mind.

She decided that now was not the time to dwell on other people's problems. She was lost in the woods with no way to tell where she was going due to the thick forest covering. She was sure that a lot of bug-pokemon inhabited these woods and she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

She reached for a pokeball on her belt and released Suicune. "Do you know which direction west is?" Asked Aquaria

"_The north wind heads south._" Said Suicune "_Therefore we must go in the direction it is blowing from._"

"Wouldn't that be north?" Asked Aquaria "I need to go west to get to Goldenrod. I think."

"_Goldenrod is to the east_" Said Suicune "_We need to go north._"

"Why north?" Asked Aquaria

"_Something familiar_." Said the beast "_I'm not sure what, but I have a very good idea._"

"What exactly is north from here?" Asked Aquaria "All I know is that we're somewhere in south-central Johto.

"_The Charicific Valley lies to the northeast_." Said Suicune "_Beyond that is Ecruteak City then Mahogany Town. Once we reach there I should be able to tell you exactly where we need to be._"

"I suppose Pallet will be pretty much the same no matter when I get there." Said Aquaria "To be honest I don't even know why I'm going anymore."

Suicune remained out of his pokeball while they walked. There was no one around and wild pokemon stayed clear of the legendary water guardian. Eventually they came upon a very large lake. It had crystal clear water and mountains overlooking it in the distance.

"This looks like a good place to camp." Said Aquaria. She pulled her pokeballs from her belt and released her pokemon from their balls. Gyarados immediately went into the water. Politoed and Corsala also went for swims. Staryu settled for floating on top of the water and Psyduck…

("Can't swim!") He screamed as he floundered in the shallow part of the water.

("That's not even deep water moron!") Yelled Corsala. Never the less she swam over to the distressed duck and pushed him back onto dry land. ("Now just stay out of the water!")

Suicune just lay by the waters edge content to dip his tail in. He looked over to Aquaria who was also sitting at the edge of the lake watching her pokemon. "_You should train your pokemon Misty._" He told her "_You avoid so many battles and whenever you do battle your concentration is elsewhere._"

Deciding to ignore being called by her real name Aquaria looked back at the water-guardian. "What exactly should I do in order to train them?" She asked. "They're all at decent levels and can handle themselves fine in the water."

No sooner had she said this when a cry of distress rang out once again. ("Can't swim…drowning!") Yelled Psyduck. This time Politoed rescued the dimwitted duck from his untimely demise. Corsala was all set to let him flounder for a while in hopes that he'd either drown or learn to swim.

Aquaria sighed. "Okay, you have a point." She said. She called all of her pokemon over to her and began to assign training regiments like she had for so many days while running the Gym. "Corsala, you practice aiming your spike cannon at the trees around the water. Staryu while she's doing that you try to hit her with water gun. Corsala whenever Staryu gets close to hitting you use Mirror Coat and fire right back at it. Gyarados go to the other side of the lake and use Twister. Then once you've got a decent supply of them disperse them with Hyper Beams and Flamethrowers. Politoed, go and practice with Gyarados, follow the usually drills and watch out for his attacks. Suicune, I don't know what you usually do to make yourself stronger, but whatever it is just do that. Psyduck…"

("Huh?") Asked the duck

"You're going to learn how to swim" She declared

("Huh?") Asked Psyduck again

This might be a much harder task than any she'd ever faced before.

…

The only pokemon remaining conscious were Charizard and Snorlax. Actually Snorlax was still asleep but the occasional use of Snore, which would sometimes hit the rampaging Onix with a high powered sound blast, did make him slightly useful. Ash was busy running around recalling his downed pokemon. Kingler had been taken out first after shooting a Bubble Beam at Onix. The poor crab was crushed under Onix's massive tail. Muk had tried to blind Onix with a Sludge Bomb to the eyes, but this had failed miserably. The sludge hat sailed upward toward Onix's head. The serpent simply moved to the side and the bomb landed, on Bagon. A quick Slam attack from Onix's tail took both pokemon out. Tauros tried to ram his head into Onix's flank with a Horn Drill attack. Ash was shocked when Onix stood its ground, used harden and let the Horn Drill hit. There was a loud grounding noise and then Tauros pulled his head away. His horns had been sheared so that the points were now flat. The point in which Onix had been struck only sported a pair of small indentations. Tauros' efforts earned him a Bind attack from Onix. The poor bull head pokemon was squeezed for several minutes and then dropped to the ground once it had lost consciousness.

Charizard had been in the air and was shooting Flamethrowers at Onix in an effort to wear it down. The rock-snake seemed to be unaffected by the intense flames and continued chasing Ash around the plateau.

"Why are you so angry Onix?" Yelled Ash while running. There was a roar for a response, but surprisingly he understood what it meant.

("Humans have no right to train pokemon!") Yelled the Onix continuing to lunge at Ash. The beast was expecting the trainer to ask the same question as he had every other time he'd done this. To Onix's surprise Ash responded to the answer as if he'd understood it.

"No, Some trainers don't deserve to train pokemon." He yelled still dodging. "Some trainers abuse their pokemon or make them commit crimes on their behalf and some even have their pokemon kill other people and pokemon."

("And you're different?") Asked the Onix doubtfully. ("You attacked me with no provocation whatsoever, then you continued to attack me after I tried to chase you away from my mountain and after that you have your pokemon wear hypnotize me and put me in a ball. You're a coward! You couldn't beat me by using strength, so you had your Noctowl cheat!")

"First of all, I apologized for Croconaw soaking you with the water!" Yelled Ash "Second you weren't trying to chase me, you were trying to KILL me! If you're chasing someone you don't cause rockslides in their path of escape, especially if all you wanted to do was get them off the mountain."

Onix stopped in mid lunge. He was still surprised that the human could suddenly understand him and he was even more surprised that the human had a point. ("That was an accident.") He said ("And this is the first time I heard you apologize. Why didn't you just release me if all you wanted to do was get away?") _Ha, answer that one stupid human! _

"Last time I tried…" Began Ash "…and this time, you ATTACKED me!"

_Oops_ Thought Onix _They told me I need to work on my temper but…_ ("Impulse, sorry.") Said Onix ("So are you going to release me now?")

"If you want." Said Ash "Just promise not to try and kill me."

("Fine.") Said Onix

"You do know that we're not in Hoenn anymore right?" Asked Ash "If I let you go here you'll be hundreds of miles away from home."

("What?") Roared Onix ("You got me into this so you get me out.")

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Ash

("You're going to get me back to my mountain.") Said Onix matter-of-factly

"I don't mind doing that, but…" Started Ash

("But what?") Asked Onix ("You claim to be so different than other trainers, so this is your chance to prove it!")

"But I have other obligations right now." Finished Ash "I need to do some training and there's some important things going on. The whole world might be in danger and I might have to help stop whatever's threatening it."

("What makes you think a pipsqueak like you can help save the world?") Asked Onix

"Done it before." Said Ash offhandedly "Rayquaza must think so too since he put this on my head." He removed his cap and looked up at Onix.

("That's the Dragon God's emblem.") He said ("If the Dragon God thinks you're special you must be special. I still want to get home, but hanging around you is bound to be interesting.")

("You don't know the half of it bud.") Muttered Charizard from his place in the air. He'd been watching the exchange with interest. Ash had changed since the last time he'd seen him. Not just physically either. He wasn't as dense as he used to be and during his conversation with Onix Charizard had noticed that Ash seemed to have a much deeper understanding for the ways of the world. Charizard thought that maybe Ash could handle the reasons why he had chosen to disobey him and the reason why he'd crushed Ash's dream at the Indigo Plateau all those years ago.

"So does this mean you'll cooperate with me?" Asked Ash

("More or less.") Said Onix ("As long as you promise to get me back to my mountain.")

"Deal." Said Ash. He was ecstatic, he had a very strong rock-pokemon on his side now. Curse or no curse things were starting to look up.

…

"Psyduck all you have to do is stay calm and kick your feet!" Said Aquaria. This had been going on for almost two hours and Psyduck still was making no progress.

("I can't do it Misty.") Said Psyduck. He as with all of Misty's other pokemon couldn't get used to calling her by her new name so she resigned that it didn't really matter. It wasn't as if anyone, but herself could understand what they were saying.

"Yes you can Psyduck." She said "You've come through in battles that everyone thought you had no hope of winning, so I know a simple thing like swimming should be no problem. Just don't think about it and do it!"

Don't think. That was something Psyduck was VERY good at. He cleared his mind of all thoughts, which took about half a second, and let himself float in the water. Instinct took over and he began to kick his feet and use his arms for propulsion.

Aquaria was amazed. Psyduck was so graceful in the water. "Wow Psyduck you're doing great!" She praised.

This was a mistake though, because once Psyduck heard her voice he realized what he was doing. He suddenly stopped mid stroke and began to flail around pathetically. ("Help...drowning!") He pleaded

Before Aquaria could order one of her other pokemon to help the duck Suicune surfaced underneath him and carried him to the shore. "Thanks Suicune." She sighed "Psyduck maybe that's enough for today."

If training Psyduck was going to be this hard she knew it was going to be a long stay here at the lake. She'd found that the water was good for her pokemon. They enjoyed it a lot and seemed to thrive. Corsala's Spike Cannon was getting more and more accurate and her Mirror Coat was getting much stronger. Staryu was improving the power of its Rapid Spin. Now it could slice down some small trees with its high-powered spin. Gyarados was a strong as ever and Politoed had been able to dodge pretty much all of Gyarados' attacks even managing to fire some of his own. Suicune didn't seem too much different, but then he'd only been a part of her team for a little over a week now.

She made camp in a clearing not far from the water's edge. It would be a while before she regained her old confidence, but the day's training had been a step in the right direction.

…

**A/N: Okay that's it . Please fallow these instructions upon completion of this chapter.**

**Bring your rodent's pointer to the box that says Submit Review.**

**Hit the "Go" Button**

**Type at least one word saying what you thought of the chapter or anything else in the fic and hit submit**

**Wait for the next chapter and repeat steps 1-3.**

**That's it .**

**Until Next Time…**


	24. Woodland Wonders

**To the Reviewers:**

**Riika-Thanks for your review and I'm glad you liked this story enough to add it into your favorites.**

**JKM-Maybe it isn't that bad. Or is it?**

**Kgmck-117-Alright I can accept that I wasn't bothered by how many times you reviewed. I was just wondering why you told me to update so many times. Thanks for the cookie I guess.**

**Ri2-The stupid curse is going to last as long as I want it to.  The compass was pointing to the Dragon Holy Land actually. Charicific Valley just happened to be in the same direction only closer. It was pointing to the Holy Land because Raikou released so much electricity that it messed up a lot of magnetic equipment all over Johto. And you will find out the REAL reason Charizard wouldn't obey Ash right now. You're also right about someone needing to warn Mewtwo. I wonder what'll happen when he finds out.**

**Cynthia Chan-Well here's the next installment**

**Ar1502599-You still didn't answer me as to how ENTEI is supposed to fix someone's personality. I really want to know. Yes the curse is still there. Absols? That's not a bad idea… .**

**Thebenjamin-You're right and Gary will be doing some training as well as Richie. What do you think he's going to do whiel in the Holy Land? Although he is going to rest for a bit. That was one hell of a battle he and his pokemon went through. As I said above the reason for Charizard's disobedience shall be revealed.**

**On with the story!**

Woodland Wonders.

Ash sat in his room holding a pokeball. He wasn't sure if this was going to work, but he had to at least give it a try.

"Shuppet I choose you." He said tossing the ball in the air. A small grey pokemon with yellow eyes and a small horn on its head came out of the ball. It didn't have the evil glare that the Shuppet in Sky Pillar had. This one smiled when it saw Ash.

("Hey Ash.") Said Shuppet ("Long time no see.")

"Yeah." Said Ash "Sorry about that. I forgot about you when I was at Mosdeep. You'd have been a much better choice then Murkrow."

("You have a Murkrow?") Asked Shuppet ("You've got to take me out more.")

"I intend to." Said Ash "First though, what do you know about curses?" Ash had been wondering why odd coincidences kept happening to him and didn't think it could possibly be a stupid curse. However, after talking to Pikachu and finding out that he was surrounded by a purple aura right before Onix had been switched with Phampy, he had to wonder.

("Curses are my kind's specialty.") Said Shuppet ("Shuppets don't usually do them although we can. Once we evolve though we do them a lot more. Why do you ask?")

"When I was in Sky Pillar this Banette cursed me." Said Ash "I didn't think it was doing anything at first but then strange things started happening."

Shuppet floated closer to Ash and examined him closely. ("Hmm.") He mumbled ("This is one heck of a curse.")

"How do I get rid of it?" Asked Ash. "I can't go on with all this stuff happening."

("Well there are a few ways.") Said Shuppet ("First is for whoever placed the curse on you to revoke it. Second would be to get a very powerful Spell Tag. This curse is special so it would take a very powerful Spell Tag being used by a very powerful priest or shaman. Third, I could try and break it but I'd need the help of a powerful psychic-type.")

"Aren't psychics weak against ghosts and dark-types?" Asked Ash "How can one break a curse?"

("Curses don't have a type.") Explained Shuppet ("An Eevee could curse you if it wanted to. So could a lot of other pokemon. Psychics can detect foreign auras better than any other type. If I was to combine my efforts with a powerful psychic-type I could possibly banish the curse from your body.")

"Well I only have one psychic right now." Said Ash. He picked up another ball and tossed it into the air "Silver come on out!"

The small Lugia came out of his ball and looked at his trainer and yawned. _"What's up Ash?" _He asked.

"Shuppet here wants to try and break that curse the Banette put on me." Explained Ash. "He says he needs a psychics help and you're the only psychic type I have."

"_I'm not sure what I can do, but I'll help any way I can." _Said Silver

("Alright let's get started.") Said Shuppet ("Silver make his aura come up.")

"Won't that activate the curse?" Asked Ash

("Yeah, but it's the only way.") Said Shuppet.

Silver concentrated on bringing the foreign aura within Ash to the surface. After a few minutes Ash began to glow purple.

("Good keep it up while I work.") Said Shuppet. He went up to Ash and put his horn against the aura. His horn began to glow purple as it absorbed the negative energy from around Ash's body ("Man this tastes good.") Said Shuppet as he gulped up the energy. Soon Ash's aura went from purple to pink to a pale white. Shuppet backed up looking woozy. ("It's not totally gone.") He informed ("You shouldn't be in any life threatening danger, at least not from anything to do with the curse. But your luck will still be pretty bad and some strange things will probably still happen.")

"_So that's it?" _Asked Silver

("Yep.") Replied Shuppet ("Ash here is good to go.")

"That's good sense I'm leaving in a few hours." Said Ash. He'd been training in Charicific valley for about a week and his pokemon had improved a great deal. He now planned on traveling to the Dragon's Holy Land to do some more training with Gary and Richie.

He returned Shuppet and Silver to their balls and went to find the rest of his traveling party. Pikachu had been off doing his own training and wouldn't tell Ash what he'd been working on. Dawn and Mune watched Ash train most of the time but sometimes they participated too. It didn't take him long to find his pokemon companions though they were in the lobby of the pokemon center watching TV.

"_And nonstop rains continue to pound the Orre region." _Said the TV reporter _"The weather in Orre isn't the only odd occurrence however, A little over a week ago the ocean level suddenly went up about six feet. This caused major flooding for some areas with altitudes below sea-level. Geologists are still baffled as to how such a dramatic increase in ocean depth could happen so quickly all around the globe." _

"Ready to go guys?" Asked Ash.

("Did you get rid of that curse?") Asked Pikachu ("Because if you didn't I'm staying at least ten feet away from you.")

"It's mostly gone." Said Ash "Shuppet says it won't put my life in danger anymore."

("Well that's good.") Said Mune ("The last thing we need is for you to put us on anymore one-way elevators or piss off an angry dragon god.")

"Very funny" Ash Said sarcastically.

("He has a point though Ash.") Said Dawn ("That curse has gotten you into a lot of trouble.")

"It wasn't THAT bad." Said Ash "I get into situations like that without a curse."

("True, but this makes them happen more often.") Said Pikachu.

Deciding not to argue the point anymore Ash started heading to the roof where Charizard was waiting for him.

("Ready to go Ash?") Asked the dragon.

"Yep, just get me out of the valley and I'll be fine." Said Ash.

"I still don't see why you don't want to go straight to the Dragon's Holy Land." Commented Lisa who came up after Ash carrying a pack. "Still I don't have the heart to just let you go out there with no supplies." She tossed him the pack and he caught it. It was black like his jeans and was quite heavy. "I put a coat in there since you'll be going up north where it gets kind of cold."

"Thanks Lisa." Said Ash "You really didn't need to do all this."

"It was the least I could do for you Ash." Said Lisa "You gave all the charizards here quite a bit of training while you were around. That Torkoal and Quilava of yours are pretty strong."

"Thanks" Said Ash "They just like burning things is all." He laughed at the memory of Torkoal and Quilava fighting one of the strongest charizards in the valley and overpowering his Blast Burn attack with two very strong Flamethrowers.

"Well they're pretty good at it." Said Lisa smiling. "Take care of yourself Ash." She blew him a kiss before heading back down stairs. Ash blushed and Charizard chuckled.

("Don't worry Ash she just likes to flirt.") He told him. ("From what I understand some Gym Leader in Hoenn is dating her.")

"Really who?" Asked Ash. The only male Gym Leaders in Hoenn were old, married, creepy or just plane asses in Wallace's case.

("Flanery I think was her name.") Said Charizard.

"I think that was too much information." Said Ash. Finding out Lisa was a lesbian was a bit of a shock to him. "Let's just go Charizard."

The dragon nodded and pushed off of the building. He started heading west toward the north end of a large lake.

…

Unbeknownst to Ash. When his aura had been purple the curse was busy setting up a chain of events that would most likely lead to his painful demise. A seemingly harmless pebble hit a seemingly harmless spot on a tree branch that just happened to have a Kakuna sitting near the edge. The chrysalis fell to the ground but was still in tact. Meanwhile a Tediursa was playing nearby and found its way into a Beedrill honey comb. After eating its fill the little bear headed back to find its parents. These were seemingly harmless events that couldn't possibly have anything to do with Ash. Or could they?

…

It was a long way to the outside of the Valley even by flight. When Ash, Misty and Brock had come to the valley the first time they'd taken Charizard in towing a hot-air balloon. When they left it took them about two days to get out. On Charizard however, it was only about an hour flight.

("Well Ash it'll be about another thirty minutes.") Informed Charizard. ("You still want to know why I wouldn't listen to you?")

"You mean you'll tell me?" Asked Ash "You don't have to if it bothers you."

("No I think you deserve to know.") Said Charizard. ("It'll be easiest if I start at the beginning. After you rescued me from Damien I vowed to myself that I would be the best Charmander the world had ever seen. Now I was young at the time so this seemed plausible to me. That time when we got separated from you after the S.S. Anne sank, Me, Pikachu, Squirtle and Bulbasaur all made a promise. We said that no matter what we would never evolve and be stronger than any other pokemon of our kind, fully evolved or not.")

"But wait." Said Ash "If you promised not to evolve than why-"

("Let me finish.") Said Charizard ("That day in the Safari Zone you had me battle a whole heard of Exeggutor. They were all very strong and at high levels. I was strong and at a high level too, that's how I was able to beat them all. The problem was that when I beat them all my experience went up too quickly. My body couldn't take the strain and I was unable to stop the evolution from happening. Once I was Charmeleon I started to see things differently. You weren't the same loving trainer I saw as Charmander. You were no different from Damien only wanting me to battle. I also blamed you for me breaking my promise to the others.")

"Charizard I didn't mean to-" Said Ash

("Just listen and stop interrupting!") Said Charizard getting annoyed. ("Now where was I? Oh yeah I just evolved into Charmeleon. Once I had evolved I considered rebelling for the first time. I didn't see a real valid reason yet, but you saw to that when you wanted me to take it easy on that Paras. I felt like you were insulting me by having me loose to a grass and bug type of all things. The worst part was probably that after I didn't obey you the Paras beat me anyway and even managed to evolve. That was the straw that broke the Camerupt's back. I vowed to never listen to you again. Some time later you called me out in Grandpa Canyon. We were in a cave and there was a giant stone bird flying around. You told me to use a Flamethrower on it and of course I decided to take a nap. Then the stupid Aerodactyl decided to take you up for a spin. He pushed me off of my perch and called me a weakling and a coward for refusing to battle him. That of course made me angry. I was so angry that I didn't even realize I was evolving until after it had happened. By then you were already in the air and screaming bloody murder.")

"I had good reason." Protested Ash

("Did all this really happen?") Dawn asked Pikachu

("Every word.") Said the mouse

("Wow.") Said Mune ("I guess traveling with Ash has always been interesting.")

("You don't know the half of it.") Said Pikachu

("As I was saying.") Said Charizard ("You were having the time of your life playing with Aerodactyl. Seeing that you were securely in the things grip I decided to toast it with a Flamethrower in hopes that it would drop you to your doom.")

"Hey!" Said Ash "Was it really that bad?"

("I was young, angry and confused.") Explained Charizard. ("I don't know what would have happened if Jigglypuff hadn't started signing. But since she did Aerodactyl dropped you. Something in me clicked and I couldn't let you fall. I decided to save you so I caught you just before you hit the ground. When we woke up you thought I was going to be obedient since I saved you. Wanting nothing to do with you I toasted you with a flamethrower. These things continued for some time. I would only battle if _I_ wanted to and I even made your situation worse a few times. But the point of all this is to get to the most disappointing time in your life. That day on the Indigo Plateau when I could've won the match for you but instead decided to take a nap. At the time I felt proud of myself for doing that. You had crushed my dreams of being the strongest Charmander so I crushed yours of being a Pokemon Master. When I saw how hurt and angry you were I was satisfied. I still wasn't going to obey you, but now you knew how I felt. But that day in the orange islands with that Poliwrath things changed. When I was frozen by that Ice Beam my life flashed before my eyes. I saw all the times as a Charmander when I was hurt and you cared for me and all the times with Damien when I was hurt and he would kick me and tell me how weak I was. You'd never done anything like that and you'd never given up on me no matter how many times I let you down. Then seeing you trying so hard to keep my tail flame from going out really made me appreciate what a good trainer you were. I was really sorry about what I'd done at the Indigo Plateau so I said I'd do what you asked me from then on. I just hope you'll accept my apology and that you understand my reasons for doing it.")

("That was so touching.") Sniffed Dawn

"Charizard don't apologize." Said Ash "If I had paid more attention to you it wouldn't have happened that way."

("Don't worry about it Ash.") Said Charizard ("If I had never evolved I would've never made it into the valley, never have met Charla and never have been able to fly. I was younger then and very head strong. Everyone makes bad decisions even pokemon.")

"You're right, but I'm still sorry I made you break your promise." Said Ash "It was me who had you fry all the Exeggutor. You did look pretty exhausted after that too."

("Not important now.") Said Charizard ("Like I said it was in the past and that's that. What is important is that we're out of the valley and this is where you get off.")

"Thanks Charizard." Said Ash jumping off the dragons back and stroking his neck affectionately. "You've gotten really strong since coming to the valley and I'm glad you're doing well."

Charizard blasted Ash with a low-powered flame barley singing him. ("You take care of yourself you little twerp.") Joked Charizard ("Speaking of twerps are Jessie and James still fallowing you around?")

"Haven't seen them in a while, but according to the laws of physics they should cross paths with us sooner or later." Said Ash.

("Too bad they didn't show up here.") Said Charizard ("I would've enjoyed roasting them for old time's sake.")

("I know what you mean.") Said Pikachu ("I haven't been able to send them blasting off in a long time.")

"What about Sootopolis?" Asked Ash

("I was aiming for Kyogre and James just happened to be there.") Said Pikachu ("It's just not the same.")

("I'll be heading back home now.") Said Charizard ("There are lots of Ursaring around here so watch out.") With that he flew off toward the direction of the valley.

Ash looked around his surroundings. He was by a large lake with crystal clear water. The mountains were to the east and a forest stretched out north and west curving around the lake which lay to the south. Whenever he turned to the southwest his head started to tingle around where the dragon mark was. He felt this was odd but didn't think it was significant until he saw his reflection. The emblem was glowing a golden color and pulsated every time he moved further southwest. Something Rayquaza had said came back to him.

"_You'll be able to sense others like you…"_

He had no idea who could possibly be southeast of him and remembered that the dragon had said the mark didn't distinguish between friend and foe. It was probably best if he stayed far away from whoever was in that direction.

…

Directly southeast of Ash's position Aquaria was setting up camp for the night. It was still a few hours before dark but she found it was easier to do it now before she started her last training exercises for the day. She sat her bike against a tree and started making a pile of wood for a fire. Her pokemon were all meat eaters so the Remoraid and Feebas in the lake made meals for them. She only needed to make food for herself and Psyduck. Since the duck still couldn't swim unless he thought he wasn't getting food was a challenge. She threw some canned vegetables into a small pot which fit over the small fire she had going. In no time a pleasant scent began to drift around the lake.

…

("How long does it take to get firewood?") Moaned Dawn ("Ash and Pikachu have been gone almost an hour and I'm starving.")

("Me too, but whining about it won't help.") Said Mune ("Just be patient and wait for him to come back.")

Suddenly Dawn smelled a pleasant aroma drifting into her nostrils. ("Do you smell that?") She Asked

("Smell wha-") He stopped himself when he smelt the same thing. ("Hey that smells good.")

("Let's go see what it is!") Said Dawn running off in the direction of the smell.

("Wait we shouldn't leave while Ash is off looking for wood!") Said Mune chasing after her.

…

Ash and Pikachu were in a very strange predicament. While looking for firewood Ash had somehow come upon a lost Tediursa. Seeing the trail of honey leading off into the direction it had come from, Ash decided to take it back in that direction. It just so happened that the mother of that Tediursa, a very large Ursaring. Saw Ash carrying her baby and immediately charged after the unfortunate trainer. This led to a chase half way around the eastern shore rim of the lake. Eventually Ash kicked a Kakuna that was lying on the ground for some reason. The chrysalis smacked into a tree that just happened to belong to the Beedrill whose honey the Tediursa had pillaged earlier. They saw Ash with the little bear in his arms and thought that he was the bear's trainer and had ordered the bear to steal their honey. The Kakuna that Ash had kicked also evolved suddenly and that Beedrill summoned its own hive mates. Now Ash and Pikachu were being chased by two Beedrill swarms and a very angry Ursaring. Ash continued on his circuit around the lake oblivious to the increasing tingle on his forehead.

…

Aquaria was just about done with her simple vegetable stew. She got out two bowls, one for herself and one for Psyduck. She heard the bushes rattle behind her and turned to see an Eevee standing in front of the bushes.

"Eevee?" It asked slowly approaching Aquaria.

"Aw, are you hungry?" Aquaria asked seeing the cute expression on the little fox's face.

_Maybe Pikachu was on to something with those pity face lessons. _Thought Mune as he watched Dawn beg for food. _I knew I should have taken those lessons when he offered. _

Aquaria got out another bowl and put some soup in it for the Eevee. "What are you doing in this forest?" She asked. It was common knowledge that Eevee were pretty rare pokemon and finding one in a forest that was home to Ursaring and bug-pokemon was odd. "Did you get separated from your trainer?"

The Eevee nodded enjoying its food. Dawn looked in the direction of Mune's hiding place and stuck her tongue out at the Espeon. Mune grumbled in frustration feeling very envious of his friend. He saw that Dawn was alright but he still didn't want to bring himself to beg for food. Although it was getting tempting. Just when he was about to make his move a loud crashing noise caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ash and Pikachu running from a lot of angry looking pokemon. Seeing that their direction would take them right into the camp he bounded out of his hiding place and sent a telepathic message to the trainer.

"_You'd better move now!" _He shouted to the surprised girl _"No time to explain just hurry and fallow me!"_

Aquaria wasn't sure how this Espeon could talk to her telepathically but by its tone she knew it wasn't joking she picked up the Eevee and Psyduck and quickly fallowed the Espeon.

…

"Pikachu there's a fire over there!" Called Ash "And look there's a bike too. We're saved!"

("I know we're desperate, but have you forgotten what happened the last two times we got close to a bike?") Asked Pikachu

"Well we just have to hope this one doesn't belong to an angry girl then won't we?" Asked Ash "Also if you don't destroy it we'll be able to bring it back." He climbed onto the shiny blue bike and Pikachu hopped into the basket. He began peddling furiously trying to get away from the rampaging pokemon. He'd put the Tediursa down when he realized that its mother was the Ursaring chasing him. Unfortunately the Ursaring still decided to chase him as did the Beedrill. It wasn't long before a rock just happened to stick up in the pathway of the front tire. The bike lurched forward off its back wheel and sent Ash and Pikachu flying through the air. They landed in a heap a few feet away from the bike. The pokemon were headed straight for Ash and he knew there was only one thing to be done.

"Pikachu, Thunder." He muttered. He saw that the bike was in the direct path of the Ursaring so he knew what was about to happen.

…

Aquaria ran after the rampaging pokemon. Whoever that idiot was he'd stolen _her_ bike. Diane had given her that bike and she was not about to let some punk trainer get away with stealing it. She came to a stop when she saw a blinding flash and heard a loud cry.

"PIIIKAAAA…" She looked around trying to spot the source of the sound. She saw a boy in a red cap lying a few feet away from her bike with a Pikachu standing in front of him staring down a whole swarm of Beedrill and one very angry looking Ursaring.

"…CHUUUUUU!" Cried the mouse as he released electric hell upon the charging pokemon. They all stopped in their tracks shocked silly by the powerful electric blast. They all collapsed in a smoldering heap and remained down for several minutes. A few Beedrill picked themselves up and began flying away in the opposite direction. The small Tediursa who had been slowly fallowing its angry mother cried when it saw its mother's charred state. The Ursaring pulled herself up and went to tend to her distressed child leaving Ash in peace. The remaining Beedrill quickly took shaky flight and fallowed their comrades. Now all that remained was a twisted and charred piece of metal and rubber. The thing had a vague resemblance to a bicycle.

Aquaria gasped in shock when she saw her once beautiful bike reduced to a charred wreck. "You!" She yelled "You ruined my bike!"

Ash was startled when he heard the voice. It sounded so familiar but it couldn't be. Could it? He looked in the direction he had heard the voice. There was a girl. She was kind of tall around about 58 and she had neck length black hair. She was very well developed and had very nice curves. Ash caught himself staring and looked at her face. It held a familiarity about it but at the same time looked completely different. Her eyes were a vibrant violet color and her skin was slightly tanned. And for some reason she was carrying Dawn in her arms. Ash also noticed Mune trotting up behind her.

"Well aren't you going to say something?" Yelled the girl.

"Uhh…" Stammered Ash. He then came up with the reply he'd given to Misty and May. "Pikachu did it."

("Hey!") Said the mouse ("I was only trying to save YOU!")

Mune laughed at Ash's attempts to reason with the girl. ("I thought you said the curse was broken?") He sniggered ("Looks like that bad luck thing really meant BAD luck.")

The Eevee in Aquaria's arms jumped down and ran over to the downed trainer and nudged him. "Is this Eevee yours?" She asked suddenly sounding much kinder than before. "Because if it is you should take better care of it and make sure it doesn't go around begging other people for food." Her voice once again held anger. "It's trainers like you that give pokemon training a bad name!"

"You were begging for food?" He asked the Eevee. The pokemon nodded sadly and the trainer stroked it affectionately. "It's okay Dawn I know I got caught up looking for the wood, sorry."

The Espeon who had warned her of the trainer's approach jumped from behind her and landed in front of the trainer. "Espeon, peon spe esp." It said

"It's alright Mune she was just hungry." Said the trainer.

Pikachu had been calmly watching the exchange and had his eyes on the female trainer. He didn't know how it was possible, but he was almost certain he knew this girl. She smelled so familiar. In fact she smelled just like… He bounded over to the girl and nudged her leg. She looked down in surprise and had a very strange look on her face almost as if she were scared. "Pikachupi?" He whispered.

Aquaria's heart froze. She knew what the pikachu had called her and only one pikachu she'd ever known called her that. Surely this trainer couldn't be him. Just to be safe she decided to play it dumb. "Hey tell your pokemon to stop nudging me!" She yelled at the trainer.

Ash looked over to the girl and saw Pikachu standing in front of her. "Pikachu leave her alone." He said "She obviously not a very friendly person since she doesn't appreciate you saying hi."

Aquaria was offended. "I am not an unfriendly person!" She yelled "You're the one that STOLE my bike and then turned it into that!" She pointed to the smoking heap of twisted metal. "So if anyone's unfriendly it's you! You didn't even apologize!"

Ash suddenly noticed that the mark on his head was now burning slightly. He knew that this could only mean one thing. This girl was bonded to a legendary pokemon like he was. Thinking it better to stop pissing the girl off he tried a different approach. "I really am sorry about your bike." He said honestly. "I was out looking for some firewood when this Ursaring started chasing me and then some Beedrill joined in. I saw your bike and figured it was a safer bet than running. Somehow a rock caused me to flip off and Pikachu had to shock all the pokemon to get rid of them. Your bike kind of just got in the way."

She had seen most of that last part but she was still angry. "Who do you think you are anyway?' She asked "You just can't take something even if you're desperate."

"Well my name's Ash Ketchum." Said Ash "What's yours?"

Aquaria was now speechless. Of all the people she could run into. Of all the ways it could happen. Ash Ketchum had destroyed her bike. AGAIN. But he was actually apologizing for it this time and he did look quite a bit different. She was worried that Pikachu had recognized her, but she wondered why she just couldn't tell Ash who she was right then and there. She knew she could trust him, or at least she thought she could. She knew he wouldn't sell her out to Team Rocket, but yet she couldn't come out and say it. "I'm Aquaria Tsunami."

"Well nice to meet you Aquaria." Said Ash. "I have to tell you that I'm a little short on cash and I already owe two other people for destroyed bikes."

"That's fine I'll just fallow you until you pay me back." She said. This seemed oddly familiar to both of them.

"Fair enough.." Said Ash "To be honest I was a little tired of traveling with just my pokemon." He figured that he could find out what legendary she was bound to if he hung around her enough so he didn't object to her coming along. "I'm heading to Blackthorn now, where were you off to?"

"I really didn't have a destination picked out." Said Aquaria "I was heading to Kanto but I got lost and decided to just head north." It wasn't a complete lie, but she figured it would be suspicious if she said she was going to Pallet.

They decided to make a camp between their two old campsites and together they ate a meal of Aquaria's vegetable stew. Pikachu sat and watched the two trainers. He wasn't sure how but he knew that Aquaria was Misty. She could lie to Ash, but she needed to do a lot more convincing before Pikachu believed she was anything but what he saw her as. He decided not to worry Ash about it. He was hurt that Misty was deceiving them but figured she had her reasons. As her friend he would respect her wishes, for now.

…

**A/N: Well another chapter down and god knows how many more to go. I'm surprised I managed to get another one of these up today. It's just that when I get in a writing mode I just can't stop. It's just fun writing this thing and all the reviews keep making me want to write more. As always please leave a comment or something in a review telling me what you think of this chapter. One question though, who didn't see the destroyed bike coming the minute I said that Misty had one?**

**Until Next Time…**


	25. The Agony of Deceit

**To the Reviewers:**

**Ar1502599-I think you were probably thinking about Entei from Pokemon 3. That's what I thought at first even before Ri2 left that review saying the same thing. Like the review said it was a fake Entei that the Unown were using so it couldn't really do it. Although I don't know what I'm going to do with the Gym Leaders once this is over. Probably simpler to just kill most of them, but we'll see. If your Entei idea was different let me know. I might be able to steal it. Err…I mean borrow .**

**Thebnjamin-Yeah when they get to Blackthorn the story will get interesting. I wasn't really trying to make Charizard's summary funny, but I'm glad you liked it. Yes don't forget that Silver is a Lugia so it makes him a legendary pokemon.**

**Antithesis-Ash should probably stay far, far away from anything resembling a bicycle. That way these things won't keep happening.**

**Ri2-You honestly didn't see it? Well that's fine. Ash got the Shuppet between the time May and Brock left him in Lillycove and the time we saw him again on the Onix's mountain in Chapter 4. I explained what pokemon he'd caught and which ones evolved in the time he'd spent alone in Hoenn in that chapter as well. Sorry if such a large party confuses you. I myself forget what he has sometimes. That's why I made a note file with all that info in it. I gave him all those pokemon for a good reason and that will be revealed later. Sorry but no hot passionate lovemaking, yet. Pikachu is in a real dilemma. He wants to tell Ash but he wants to give Misty a chance to do it first. Either way though someone's getting hurt. I figured having Charizard rejoin the party would seem a little too predictable that's why he stayed in the valley. And o yeah, Lisa being gay just kind of came to me on a whim. Not sure from where though.**

**JKM-I will fix that when I get around to it. Thanks for pointing it out.**

**Cdfe88-You just have good timing when it comes to reading I guess. That series of events was unfortunate wasn't it? It took me a while to come up with all that. Thanks for wishing me luck. You have no idea how much I need it.**

**BlueEagle-Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the quick updates while they last.**

**Enough of this pointless gibberish!**

The Agony of Deceit

Brock walked into the elaborately decorated office and stopped in front of the massive desk. The chair was turned to face him and he could see Giovoni's stern face looking right through him. There were some more footsteps behind him and a few more Rockets came in to be debriefed by their boss.

"I already know that the mission was a failure." He said calmly "What I want to know is why?"

"Sir we had two uninvited guests." Said Creig "Shigeru Oak and some other punk decided to interfere."

"How could _two_ trainers possibly endanger a mission involving TEN Rockets!" Roared Giovoni "You had better think about your answer quickly Creig."

"Well sir, you see…" He stuttered

"He screwed up." Said Brock. All eyes turned to him and Creig fixed him with an angry glare. "He was the one in charge, he was the one who was given Articuno and he was the one that lost to Gary and Raikou. Oh yes, and Surge was defeated by Richie when he had a two-on-one pokemon advantage."

"That kid had Entei!" Yelled Surge

"You lost too Slate!" Shouted Creig "You can't blame this totally on me!"

Giovoni watched the argument unfold interested in what his subordinates had to say.

"I was the one that blew up the rookery." Said Brock "I was the one whose pokemon had Raikou pinned down and ready to be finished off and I was the one who did the most damage during that battle."

"Is this true Creig?" Asked Giovoni "Did Slate's pokemon really do all that?"

Creig knew it was a BAD idea to lie to Giovoni. He'd heard stories about what happened to the unfortunate agents who tried to deceive the boss. "Slate is admonishing the details a bit…" He said "His pokemon did do a lot of damage, but he wasn't the only force on the team."

"Shigeru took us by surprise sir." Said Cassidy desperately trying to salvage her reputation. "He sent his pokemon in a flank attack and as Creig said he had Raikou, who had a distinct type-advantage over Articuno."

"That other kid had a legendary pokemon too." Rasped Butch "He's the one who stopped us getting away with the dratini."

"Hmm." Said Giovoni thinking "So there are others with legendary pokemon. This could become a problem. I think it's time Team Rocket took a more active role in the government affairs of the region."

"What do you mean by that Boss?" Asked Fiona

"You'll know soon enough." He answered "Creig, Fiona, Butch and Cassidy, be at the Veridian Capital Building in two hours. The rest of you return to your quarters. It is not yet time to show the world that the Gym Leaders live."

The Gym Leaders grudgingly did as they were told and returned to their rooms. Brock then had a thought that had been troubling him for some time. All the Gym Leaders had been captured, but he'd only seen five out of the six captive leaders. Where was Sabrina?

…

"So what pokemon do you have with you?" Asked Ash spying the pokeballs on Aquaria's belt.

_Get out of this one Misty _Thought Pikachu cynically. He found it highly amusing what was going on. He was going to give Ash a chance to figure out what the situation was on his own. He was also giving Misty a chance to reveal herself. There had been several close calls in the day they'd been traveling together. Ash often asked questions that caused "Aquaria" to go deafly silent before answering. Questions like: Where are you from? Do you have any siblings? How long have you been traveling?

Her answers did seem convincing although they were a bit delayed. She was from Cianwood Island. She had no siblings and she'd been traveling for five years on her own. She'd just set off again from Cianwood and was heading to Goldenrod. When asked why she was going to Goldenrod, she responded that she was merely going to challenge the Gym Leader. Ash accepted this and said that he wouldn't mind detouring to Goldenrod if she needed to stop there. She declined his offer saying that she could always come back and that Blackthorn was as good a place as any to get her next badge. Right now though she was hesitating about Ash's current question.

_What do I do?_ She thought frantically _What if he asks to see them? _Thinking quickly about answers to those questions she responded "Just some water-types." _At least that isn't a lie _

"Can I see them?" He asked ever eager to see some new pokemon. "I had a friend once that liked water-types."

_Why did he say "had"_ She wondered in her mind. _Only one way to find out_ "Had?" She asked "What happened to your friend?" She knew that he probably knew about the Gym Leaders' disappearance, but she needed to know what he thought happened to _her_.

He sighed suddenly loosing his pleasant demeanor. "I don't know." He said flatly "She and a few other friends of mine disappeared a few months ago."

"How did they disappear?" She asked trying to sound genuinely interested.

_This is just mean Misty. _Thought Pikachu _You already know and yet you want him to tell you even though you see it's painful for him. Maybe you don't care about him…_

"You heard about Team Rocket attacking the Kanto Gyms right?" He asked. She nodded and he continued. "I had two friends. Their names were Misty and Brock. Brock was leader of Pewter City Gym and Misty was leader of Cerulean City Gym along with her three sisters. After the attacks on the Gyms they didn't find any bodies or traces of anything. " He struggled to keep back sobs "They were presumed dead."

Aquaria was sorry she made him say all that. She knew Ash cared about her and Brock, but she didn't think the news had hit him this hard. "I'm sure their alright." She assured. She couldn't be sure, but the last time she'd seen the other Gym Leaders they'd been alive at least.

"I'm sure their alright." Said Ash now sounding angry "From what I've heard their now members of Team Rocket."

"WHAT!" Shouted Aquaria astonished and confused. How did THAT happen?

"That's one of the reasons I'm going to Blackthorn." He said "I was told that my two friends stopped a large group of Rockets who included the Gym Leaders from Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion and Celadon."

("Did you know that?") Asked Mune who was trailing the group with Dawn

("No Idea.") She said ("I think Lisa must have told him that while we were somewhere else or something.")

Aquaria couldn't believe what she'd heard. First Ash thought she was dead and now he thought she and Brock were members of Team Rocket. She couldn't speak for Brock and her sisters, but she could speak for herself. This was going to hut Ash's feelings some but she had to at least give him some hope. "Ash I need to tell you something." She said "I-" _I can't do it._

"You what?" Asked Ash

_She's really your best friend who you think is either dead or in Team Rocket. _Thought Pikachu _You'd better not back out of this Misty or me and you are going to have a nice long talk. _

"I'm sure your friends don't have much of a choice." She said. She was sure of at least that much having been in Team Rocket's custody herself. "If they were captured I'm sure Team Rocket must be forcing them to do what they want."

"How could they force them to do anything?" Asked Ash

_Is he still THAT dense? _She wondered mentally "Team Rocket are criminals Ash!" She said "If they wanted someone to do something they have ways of getting what they want."

Ash's mind began to spill over all the possible reasons why his friends would serve the Rockets. He didn't like what he was coming up with. "I'm so stupid." He moaned "I knew they must have had reasons, but I just didn't think of it that way." He clenched his fists in rage and bowed his head down. "I swear I'm going to get them out of there if it's the last thing I do."

Aquaria was taken aback. She'd never seen Ash this angry before. His usual carefree countenance was all but gone replaced by a deep seeded need for revenge. This was a side of him she'd never seen before and while she understood why he was so angry, it still sent chills down her spine.

"It's alright Ash." She tried to console him "Getting angry about it isn't going to make the situation any easier to deal with."

He took a deep breath. He knew she was right and he hated letting his anger get the best of him. Over the years he'd come to realize that his temper got him in a lot more trouble than it got him out of.

"You're right." He said "It's just that I care about my friends a lot. The fact that their being tortured or blackmailed into doing who knows what just gets to me."

"I understand." She said. It was painful for her as well to think that her sisters and Brock were most likely doing unspeakable things just to keep their pokemon from harm, or in Brock's case his entire family. "Just try not to let it bother you."

"I'll try." He said "It's just that thinking about Team Rocket and all they've done in the past few months is frustrating to say the least."

_That's right they burned down Pallet and that means…_ She thought sadly. "Just don't think about it Ash." She said "Look let's stop here for the night, there's a river not too far away and we've been walking all day."

"Alright, you go get some water and I'll get a fire going." He said "Anyone want to help me look for some wood?"

("We will") Said Dawn happily. She and Mune trotted up behind Ash as he left to go get some firewood.

Aquaria started heading toward the river to fill their canteens with some drinking water. She wasn't aware of the little yellow mouse following her. Once she got to the river she decided to let her pokemon out for a little air. Since she'd been around Ash she hadn't risked using her pokemon yet. She tossed her pokeballs into the air and all six pokemon appeared before her. Gyarados, Corsala and Staryu immediately headed into the water. Politoed hopped onto a tree branch that stuck out over the river and prepared to practice his diving techniques. Psyduck simply looked around obliviously. Suicune took the opportunity to purify the river-water. It wasn't exactly dirty, but it still held a few too many impurities for the water-guardian's liking.

Aquaria dipped the canteens into the water filling them up. She was about to take a swim when she suddenly heard Psyduck talking to someone.

("Hi Pikachu") Called the duck waving to the hiding mouse.

("Pikachu's here?") Asked Politoed still preparing for his dive. He had a better vantage point and noticed the mouse hiding behind a tree. ("Long time no see bud!")

"Oh no." Moaned Aquaria.

("Ha, I knew it!") Said Pikachu triumphantly as he bounded out of his hiding place and stood in front of who he now knew to be Misty. ("You've got a lot of explaining to do Misty.")

She decided to act like she didn't understand the mouse and looked at him with an expression of false confusion. "I don't understand." She said

("Don't make me shock you.") He warned ("I'm already mad at you for lying to us, so don't make it any worse by playing dumb.")

"Fine you got me Pikachu." She admitted "But it's not as simple as you might think it is."

("I won't know until you explain.") He said

"Where should I start?" She asked

("Try the beginning and I'll ask any questions if I still don't understand.") Said Pikachu.

Misty told Pikachu of all the events that happened since the day of the Gym's destruction. How the leaders were forced to battle the legendary birds, how Starmie had been murdered, how Gyarados had gotten her out and so on. She left the part about her excursion into her subconscious out. Pikachu didn't need to know _everything_.

"And that's pretty much it." She finished "I'm now on the run from Team Rocket, who are probably still looking for me or think that I'm dead."

("I still don't understand why you won't tell Ash.") He said ("He deserves to know Misty. You don't know how much it hurt him when he thought you were dead. Then once his mom died he had given up all hope.")

"It was his mom Pikachu, of course he was upset." Said Misty "Loosing a parent is a hard thing to go through."

("It wasn't just his mom Misty.") Argued Pikachu ("His mother meant a lot to him but so do you and Brock.") He paused before adding ("Especially you.")

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked

("I think you know.") He said ("I'll give you until we reach Mahogany Town to tell him the truth. We'll get to Ecruteak tomorrow and once we leave there it takes about two days to get to Mahogany on foot. That gives you at least three days to tell him on your own.")

"You can't do this Pikachu!" She yelled "I have my reasons why I won't tell Ash and you should respect them!"

("You're deliberately lying to his face.") Said Pikachu ("You should have more trust in Ash by now to know that he can keep a secret. Especially something this important.")

"You're not going to change your mind are you." She stated "I guess I don't have a choice then."

("I'd get it over with as soon as possible." Said Pikachu "The longer you put it off the more it will hurt when he finds out. He might figure it out on his own and if that happens I don't know what he'll do.") With that said he headed back toward the camp leaving Misty alone to contemplate what he'd just said.

…

Giovoni took his position behind the large podium in front of the Capital Building. A large crowd had gathered to see what their leader had to say. There were hundreds of TV cameras and dozens of photographers from various newspapers around the world. Giovoni took a deep breath and began speaking.

"Thank you all for coming out on such short notice." He said with a false cheerfulness. "I am aware of the publics growing concern regarding the terrorist group known as Team Rocket. I recently mounted an assault on one of this groups hidden bases located beneath Mt. Moon. I am pleased to report that the leader of Team Rocket has been terminated." He paused and a loud cheer rang out from the crowd. The photographers went crazy taking hundreds of pictures. "I must also inform everyone that I have arranged a special punishment for the other high-ranking members of the team." He snapped his fingers and seven people came from inside the capital. Domino, Creig, Fiona, Buson, Bashou, Butch and Cassidy all marched out in handcuffs and wearing their uniforms. "These seven are the top agents in Team Rocket. They know the most about the organization and after several hours of grueling interrogation it was found that they were all being held hostage." The crowd gasped and began to murmur amongst themselves. Giovoni was reminded of his takeover of the senate by the reaction the crowd was having. "If you will allow me to explain I will tell you what I man." The crowd grew quiet again and waited for their leader to continue with his explanation. "The leader of Team Rocket was a very sadistic and ruthless man. He forced all of his members to join by means of blackmail and threats of death. These individuals had no choice in what they were made to do. They have all been given polygraphs and I can assure you that there is physical evidence to support their claims. Even though they were forced to do what they did it does not excuse their crimes." He turned to the shackled Rockets and they all had an expression of deep remorse and sadness on their faces. Giovoni had to admit that their acting was pretty good. He almost believed them, almost. "This is why I am going to institute a _unique_ punishment. These seven as well as all the other members of Team Rocket we apprehended are going to be organized into a special division. This division will be under the direct control of hand picked officers from our army. They will function as a special force under my direct command. Rest assured that all the stolen pokemon have been released and the ones they have were procured by traditional means. Are there any questions?"

The crowd remained silent for some time absorbing the information they'd just been given. Suddenly several members of the media bombarded Giovoni with several questions about how he could trust them or what had happened to the leader of Team Rocket. He assured them that they'd been tested and double tested by using polygraphs and psychic pokemon. He also informed them that the leader of Team Rocket was being put to death.

"Who was the leader of the organization sir?" Asked a reporter "The public deserves to know!"

Giovoni cursed the inquisitive reporter but answered the question nonetheless. "It was discovered that a man known as Dr. Pursy Sebastian was heading the organization." Sebastian had disappeared sometime following the incident at Lake of Rage so he was the perfect fall guy. "He has been apprehended and is now awaiting his punishment."

He was bombarded with more questions and he answered them all with ease. They were mostly superficial and pertained to matters such as where the Rockets would be held and what members of the army would supervise their new unit. He did get inquiries on the whereabouts of the missing Gym Leaders and he answered this by saying the Rocket base had been one of the main ones, but the missing leaders had not been there. He reminded the public that his former colleagues were presumed dead and not to get their hopes up after so long. This seemed to be acceptable and soon Giovoni was on his way back to the Veridian Gym. He'd been offered the Minister's Mansion but he declined seeing as how his quarters at the Gym were ten times better than the accommodations at the mansion. His security force led the captured Rockets to a police van and Giovoni got into his limo. Now there was only one thing left to do for the day.

…

Ash walked back to the camp with the firewood in his arms. Thankfully the curse was inactive and didn't have him run into any problems this time. He placed the wood into a circle of rocks he'd already set up for the fire. He called out Torkoal and ordered him to light the fire with an Ember attack. Soon there was a nicely raging fire and Ash set about making crude meals for his pokemon. He was nowhere near Brock's skill when it came to preparing food, be it pokemon or human, but he could manage. Dawn and Mune curled up beside him and basked in the fire's warmth. It was starting to get dark and Ash was beginning to wonder where Pikachu and Aquaria were. No sooner had he thought this then he heard the two of them coming back with the water.

"So you decided to keep Aquaria company Pikachu?" Asked Ash

("You could say that.") Answered the mouse. ("She's a very _interesting _person.")

"I'm sure she is." Said Ash "You gonna let me see your pokemon now?" He asked continuing their conversation from earlier.

_Might as well_ She thought _This way he'll get a chance to figure it out on his own and I won't have to tell him anything._ "Sure." She said. She'd explained to her pokemon to not under any circumstances call her Misty or act like they knew Ash. They all agreed although Psyduck still seemed confused. Tossing the balls into the air she called out five pokemon.

Ash was impressed with her pokemon. He didn't even think it was odd that they were the same species as the ones Misty had. He knew lots of female trainers liked water-types so it was only a coincidence that she had almost the exact same party as Misty. The only difference being that she didn't have a Starmie. "Those are some pretty nice pokemon." He complimented. He then noticed the scar on Gyarados' chest. "How'd your Gyarados get that scar?" He asked pointing to the long white line stretching across the atrocious pokemon's chest.

"He was in a battle with a very strong electric-type." She said "He managed to win but he got that scar as a souvenir."

"Looks like it hurt." Said Ash. He noticed she still had one pokeball on her belt. "What's in the last one?"

"Oh this one's pretty shy." Said Aquaria "He doesn't like to show himself to people much."

("It's Suicune.") Said Mune cheekily ("I read her mind.")

Aquaria had no idea what the Espeon had just said so wrote it off as nothing.

("You shouldn't do that!") Scolded Dawn ("It's not polite. People's minds are places of privacy.")

"She's right Mune." Said Ash "Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should." He then remembered what the fox had said. "Wait did you say Suicune!"

Aquaria finally realized what must have happened. Mune read her mind and told Ash what her last pokemon was. What else did he know if he'd already read her mind once?

"Yes its Suicune." Admitted Aquaria "I really wish your Espeon hadn't done that."

"_Don't worry I only looked at what pokemon you had._" Said the Espeon. Ever since he'd used telepathy to warn her of the danger the day before he found that he rather liked communicating with his mind. "_I don't know anything about you deceiving Ash and…Oops._"

_Great now two people know_. Thought Aquaria _If you're still eavesdropping you'd better not say anything to Ash!_ She shouted in her mind.

"_All I'll say is that you should tell him._" He thought back "_I won't be mean like Pikachu and say you have a time limit, but you really should tell him._"

_I will when I'm ready _She thought

"So are you going to show me or what?" Asked Ash. He'd been staring at her for the past minute or so wondering why she kept looking at Mune.

"Well if he wants to come out I'll show you." She said "Suicune I choose you!"

In a red flash the water guardian came out of his ball. He looked around and spotted Ash. He immediately recognized him as being both Lugia's and Ho-Oh's Chosen One, but he was surprised to notice the mark on Ash's head. _He has been marked by Rayquaza _Thought Suicune _Interesting_.

Ash was awed by the legendary beast. He was still a magnificent sight to behold and even with the addition of the three scars that ran across his face he was still a beautiful creature. "Hey Suicune." Said Ash "Remember me?"

"_Indeed human._" Said the beat "_It seems you've been through a lot since the last time I saw you though._"

"Yeah, you could say that." Said Ash "The last time I saw you I was only 13 though and we were surrounded by a bunch of bug pokemon."

"_Yes those idiotic humans decided to crack one of the crystal bells._" Said Suicune "_You're lucky I was nearby because Ho-Oh was threatening to burn the whole city to the ground for such insolence._"

"Ho-Oh would do that?" Asked Ash "I know the bells are symbolic of her return but still…"

"_Ho-Oh is very self conscious and takes her word very seriously_" Explained Suicune "_When she ascended to the heavens centuries ago she promised that she would return once the hearts of humans and pokemon were as one. She left the bells as a symbol of that and they will only ring when her desire is fulfilled. When those humans broke one she was quite infuriated. I convinced her to let me handle the situation and that is how I was able to meet you there._"

"I had no idea." Said Ash "That's why the pokemon must have been so angry. They thought they were about to be incinerated."

"_Indeed_" Agreed Suicune "_They had good reason to be afraid._"

"I'll bet." Said Ash

Aquaria just watched the situation and smiled to herself. Only Ash would actually have a conversation with a legendary pokemon as if it were an old friend. Thinking about it though Suicune was kind of an old friend.Ash had run into the beast on three separate occasions once when he'd just started his journey in Johto, again in Ecruteak City and another time when trying to save Celebi form the "Iron Masked Marauder"

Ash wondered why Aquaria wasn't surprised at the fact that he knew Suicune. Most people wouldn't believe him whenever he said that he'd met a legendary pokemon. The fact that Suicune was talking to him didn't seem to bother her either. Something was very odd about this, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

After a simple meal the group bedded down for the night. Each had different thoughts running through their minds but no idea how to deal with them.

…

Giovoni walked into the underground labs beneath the Viridian City Gym. He headed to a heavily secured door. The same door Todd had tried to open months ago and had failed at. He put his hand on a panel which red his fingerprints and opened to allow him access. In the room were several computers and at the very back of the room there was a woman with dark forest-green hair and emotionless brown eyes. On her head was a device used to dampen psychic energies. Usually this device was reserved for powerful psychic-type pokemon. However since the woman was an extraordinary psychic it was no surprise that this precaution was in place.

"Hello Sabrina." Greeted Giovoni. Of course she didn't answer, but then she never did. Nothing Giovoni did seemed to break the woman. He'd murdered her parents right in front of her and had been none-to-gentle about doing it. He'd tortured her, her pokemon and even tortured others to try and break through her immense shell. Most people would have simply killed her since she was useless as a potential addition to the team. However Giovoni wasn't most people. He managed to find a much more important use for her. Since she raised some of the strongest psychic-type pokemon he used those pokemon to perfect his psychic control helmet. He'd used the helmet on Mewtwo and for a while it had kept the clone subdued. However, Mewtwo eventually overpowered the device and Giovoni hadn't seen the clone since. This fact didn't stop him from preparing for the clone's recapture though. He had the Master Balls and the GS Ball, but he needed to be absolutely sure that nothing could break free of his control. He'd been working on a way to control a pokemon even if it went into Genocide Syndrome and now he believed he had a way.

"You'll never succeed." Said Sabrina in a monotone. "You have too many ambitions and too much greed to accomplish your goals."

Giovoni was surprised by the sudden comment, but he didn't show it. "So you can still read my mind." He said "Since you can you know exactly what I'm about to do then. I will succeed and there's nothing you can do about it." He walked over to one of the computers and hit a few keys. A sudden surge of electricity lanced its way through Sabrina's body. The charge was very painful but she didn't give Giovoni the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. She'd sealed off all her emotions long ago and it was not a problem to do it again here. Giovoni smirked at the young woman's futile efforts to defy him. He knew she wouldn't cry out and he didn't really want her to. It was enough for him knowing that he was causing her pain and that there was nothing she could do about it. He turned up the psychic dampener a few more notches to insure that what little psychic energy she could emit would be contained. He had other things to do and he couldn't afford a disturbance in the Gym should Sabrina escape.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day. He had plans to ensure the people's trust in the "rehabilitated" Team Rocket. The plan was simple. Have a seemingly wild and powerful pokemon attack a town at random. Send in Team Rocket to remedy the situation and the people would fall for it like the idiots they were. Now all that needed to be done was to pick a town a town. Viridian and Fuschia were out of the question. He'd already destroyed Pallet and the other cities containing the destroyed Gyms didn't need anymore damage. This left only one option, Lavender Town.

…

**A/N: I have to really thank everyone for reading this fic up to this point. I recently reread chapter 1 and I found quite a few typos. I'm in the process of going through all the chapters and looking for these and if Chapter 1 is any indication I have a lot of editing to do. So I really appreciate that the errors that exist were ignored, for the most part, and that you readers are enjoying this little story of mine. Please leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter and the next one will be up ASAP.**


	26. Evil, To a Whole New Level

**To the Reviewers:**

**Thebenjamin-Don't feel bad about overlooking Sabrina, to be honest I'd almost forgotten about her. Had it not been for Cdfe88 leaving that review I would have surely forgotten about her. I'd planned something for her in the beginning but then I changed the plot and well she kind of got left out . I didn't tell you about the attack on all the Gyms because I felt that it would be too repetitive. So basically this is what happened at most of the Gyms. Team Rocket came in very unexpectedly and had pokemon with distinct type-advantages over the ones at each Gym. They also held the younger trainers and anyone else at the Gym hostage. Now when they came to Saffron Sabrina hadn't went back into her emotionless shell so she was susceptible to these tactics at first. As for now, well you see what's become of her.**

**Cdfe88-You are the 100th Reviewer! CONGRADULATIONS YOU'VE WON…absolutely nothing sorry . Although I do appreciate all your support and very many reviews that's about all I can really give you, well besides updates as quick as possible . If you read the above response you will see that it wasn't a coincidence at all this time and I really have to thank you for reminding me about her.**

**Kgmck-117 Yeah the people of Lavender should beware but there's someone else there that should be even more concerned…**

**Ri2-As I said before thanks for the correction. I don't know what to tell you about how Misty's little problem is going to be resolved. All I can say is that it will be painful for someone. I agree whole heartedly with you Gio is an evil, evil bastard! Whoever came up with all that stuff he's doing must have a very sick mind and should undergo immediate psychiatric treatment .**

**The Heir of Seth-So you like it. That's great, enthusiastic reviews like that make me like to write this story.**

**ShaQ1nJ-A 9.9! WOW! I'd only give it like a 7 maybe an 8 but if you think so I really appreciate it. Thanks for the review and I hope you leave another real soon.**

Evil, To a Whole New Level

Jessie, James and Meowth floated over the ocean in their balloon. They'd been heading south for some time and still found no trace of Groudon. Although they weren't trying very hard to find him either. After their first encounter with the land maker they weren't too eager to be anywhere near him again. Unfortunately for the trio they didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Meowth grabbed his head in pain as the being inhabiting his body took control. "You fools haven't found Groudon yet?" He asked amazed by their incompetence "Maybe you need a little more incentive…"

"No, no!" Screamed Jessie and James

"We just got lost that's all." Assured Jessie "If your omnipotence wouldn't mind showing us where to go again, I'm sure we'll find Groudon in no time."

"Do not lie to me human." Warned the possessed cat. "I inhabit this creatures mind, I see and hear all he sees and hears. I know that you were purposely ignoring all evidence of Groudon's whereabouts."

The two Rockets swallowed in fear. "You do?" Asked James quietly while cowering in the other corner of the basket.

"Yes I do." Said the being. "You both shall be punished for your insolence later. Right now head northeast and DO NOT deviate or your torture will be much slower and ten times more painful." With their imminent suffering promised the being released his hold on Meowth and the cat slumped to the floor of the balloon. "I hate it when he does dat." He sighed.

"Well at least things can't get any worse." Said James.

There was a flash from Jessie's direction and Meowth and James turned to see Wobbuffet come out of his pokeball. ("Did someone say my name?") Asked the blob.

"He said worse not curse." Said Jessie as she returned him to his ball.

("My life is shit.") He muttered as he was confined once more into the ball. The trio drifted northeast and eventually they came upon a chain of bare islands. It looked as if they'd just been brought to the surface of the ocean. They were barren and ash ridden and looked as if they couldn't sustain even the smallest amount of life. The chain of islands stretched out over a ten mile area seeming to span in all direction from a larger island in the center. Upon the center island was a very large and very active volcano. Sitting atop the mountain as if it were a throne was Groudon. He caused lava to spew out of the mountaintop and land on an empty patch of ocean where it would turn into smoking rock once it cooled. By repeating this process several times he created new islands and was slowly forming a whole new continent out of the molten lava.

Meowth groaned in pain again as his body was taken over by his new master. "Excellent." He drawled "Perhaps you humans aren't as useless as I thought. I shall make your torture half as painful as it was going to be." He snapped his fingers and Jessie and James bent over in pain. Visions of themselves being stabbed, burned and violated in ways not fit to describe raced through their heads. As each image went through their minds their bodies could feel what was being done. The possessed pokemon snapped his fingers again and the images stopped.

"That was horrible." Sniveled James once again cowering in the corner of the balloon.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Asked Jessie who was also cowering beside James.

"If you really need to know…" Said the being. He snapped his fingers again and this time images of the Rockets doing all their dastardly deeds flashed through their minds. There were the countless pokemon the stole and the countless ones they tried to steal after meeting Ash. There were the times when they'd gotten so frustrated with Ash that they tried to kill him and last but not least there was the time they both scorned Meowth and abandoned him. With another finger snap the images stopped once more and the being turned his attention to more important matters. "Now We need to get close to him." He said pointing to Groudon. "Move this heap of junk as close as you can and release all your pokemon."

Not wanting to be tortured again the Rockets quickly did as they were told. The balloon slowly made its way toward Groudon miraculously dodging the incoming lava. Groudon finally noticed that he had visitors and looked up at the Rockets. He watched as they released almost all their pokemon. Jessie opted to keep Wobbuffet in his ball. The possessed cat used his powers to enhance the released pokemon. He gave Jessie's Seviper a pair of wings so it wouldn't fall into the lava. He also made it bigger so that it could carry Cacnea and Polliwhirl. He simply enhanced the attack power of Dustox, Polliwhirl and Cacnea since they all had attacks that were damaging to Groudon.

("You pathetic humans think you can defeat me!") He asked incredulously ("What fools.") He shot lava straight at the balloon only for the possessed Meowth to jump onto the basket's edge and deflect the lava with a psychic blast. The pokemon wasted no time in commencing their attack. Seviper swooped low giving all the pokemon on his back a chance to get a good aim. Meanwhile Dustox flew low as well and headed straight for Groudon. The bug slammed into the continent pokemon and began using Giga Drain immediately upon contact. Before Groudon could shake the bug off He was hit with a Poison Sting, Hydro Pump and Pin Missile.

"Since when can our pokemon fight like that?" Asked Jessie astonished.

"If they fought like this all the time we'd have gotten Pikachu a long time ago." Commented James

"This is one of the many benefits you can gain by serving me." Said the being "I can do much more once I have gained more power." What he didn't tell them was that once he had Groudon he was going to abandon them and probably test out his new powers on them and their enhanced pokemon. He also didn't tell them that the pokemon were fighting so well because he was giving them direct commands telepathically.

Groudon was getting very annoyed by the constant attacks. He wasn't going to put up with it any longer. Gathering energy in both of his hands and breathing in deeply he unleashed a devastating Overheat combined with a double Solarbeam. The Solarbeams hit Seviper and Poliwhirl while the Overheat severely hurt Dustox and Cacnea as well as singing the other two pokemon very badly.

_So he wants to flaunt his power does he…_ Thought the being _Well two can play at that game_. He stretched out both hands and floated into the air. He had been restraining himself because Meowth's form couldn't handle using the full extent of his power. In fact only his true body could handle that and it was impossible for him to get it back at the current time. He flew out and stopped right in front of Groudon. The continent pokemon looked at him amused until he noticed the look in the cat's eyes.

"Hello Groudon." Said possessed cat. "I'm sure you remember me."

("Y-You're Dead!") He stammered

"In a since I was." He said "My soul was separated from the physical plain and my body was basically destroyed. However I now live again."

Groudon wasted no more time on useless conversation. He knew that his adversary was very powerful and could most certainly defeat him if he didn't act quickly. Charging energy within his mouth once more and gathering sunlight into his hands he unleashed A horrifying Solar/Hyper Beam combo. The combined attack shot straight toward the possessed Meowth and it seemed as though he would surely be incinerated. Unfortunately for Groudon, this was not the case. As the beam got close to the being he simply raised one hand and not particularly caring about the fate of the body he now possessed focused a great deal of his power into sending the attack right back at Groudon. The attack slammed into the continent pokemon and there was a blinding flash of light which covered the whole area.

"What's happening?" Screamed Jessie as the balloon was buffeted by the strong wind produced by the impact of the attack.

"We're not going to make it this time!" Cried James totally frightened out of his mind.

When the light dimmed there was nothing but a cloud of smoke hanging over the barren islands. The wind slowly calmed and all the Rockets could do was wait.

…

Lavender Town, the city of ghosts and the capital of mediums. A low fog hung in the air over the city, which was normal for the town. A few children played outside of a quaint school building and a few wild pokemon frolicked in the fields surrounding the town. All the denizens of the town were blissfully unaware of the fate which was about to befall them.

Giovoni stood on the top of a hill overlooking the town. He held a single Master Ball in his hand and a pair of binoculars around his neck. After the recent failure in the Dragon's Holy Land, he was leaving nothing to chance and that was why he was overseeing this mission personally. He brought the binoculars to his eyes and spotted the fairly large contingent of Rockets waiting for his signal. He tossed the Master Ball into the air and Lugia coalesced into existence.

"Lugia," He said addressing the massive bird. "Destroy." The simple command given the bird took flight and headed down to the unsuspecting town below.

…

Peace. He had finally found what he'd been looking for. There were no more worries, no more problems and most importantly no more pain. In this state he could still function and yet he had to impose hardly any will in order to do the simplest task. His mind worked like a well oiled machine. He understood things now that he'd never dreamed of understanding and he could see things now that he'd been oblivious to before. The feeling was truly amazing. Unfortunately it had him so preoccupied with other things that he wasn't paying attention to his immediate surroundings. He'd told the ghosts not to bother him and they hadn't. Since that was the only way into the tower he figured that it was safe enough to let his senses drift elsewhere. He was surprised when he suddenly felt an aura of panic rise from the peaceful town around him. He wondered what could be so bad as to incite such fear into the people. His answer came in the form of an Aero Blast which demolished the entire top floor of the tower and sent him flying through the air. Since he'd already achieved enlightenment, his state of Nirvana was not broken. However now was the time to test his newly aquired abilities. Now was the chance to see how he functioned in a real battle.

…

Giovoni watched with amusement as Lugia demolished the buildings of the town. Half of it was already destroyed and he'd received the distress calls from his office about dispatching a team to get rid of the rampaging Lugia. He smirked at the thought of a completed mission after the colossal failure of the last operation. This time there would be nothing he wasn't prepared for. He pulled a small flare gun out of his pocket and pointed it into the sky releasing a small but very noticeable spark. That was the signal and he saw the mass of black move into the city with their pokeballs drawn. They knew that causing any serious damage to Lugia was out of the question and Giovoni had the means to insure Lugia's complete cooperation with the whole façade. Nothing would go wrong with this mission, of that he was absolutely sure. He had no idea how wrong he was.

…

The contingent of Rockets moved into the city. A team was assigned to search for any survivors and get them to safety. Another group was assigned to take on the rampaging Lugia. The bird would not be an easy foe to take down. Giovoni had put Lugia through extensive training and had risen the monstrous bird almost to the maximum level. Not even Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres had been given as much training put together as Lugia had received. Each Rocket assigned to take on the bird was armed with dark, electric or rock-type pokemon. The plan was simple lure the rampaging bird out of the city, then bring it down with overwhelming force. After that Lugia was to be restrained and Giovoni would give the bird orders to remain docile. Team Rocket would be hailed as national heroes and their past activities in the region would be all but forgotten for their bravery and courage in saving the small, but sentimentally important community.

Brock was assigned to help people escape the city. He was thankful for this as it would spare him from putting anymore strain on his already overtaxed conscience. He saw a burning building and was immediately reminded of the night in Pallet Town. He wouldn't allow anyone else to die as long as he could so something about it. Nothing could bring back the people he'd help murder the night of Pallet's destruction but at least he could save a few here.

It was just Brock's luck that the building he ran into was a pokemon center. His Lombre and Mudkip had been returned to him, albeit in less than perfect condition. In exchange for his unwavering loyalty to Team Rocket. Since he'd already proven himself as a loyal member there was little question of his intentions and he liked it that way. He ran into the center and released his two water pokemon and ordered them to put out the flames. He saw a red-haired woman lying down behind the counter and immediately recognized her as the city's Nurse Joy. Brock hadn't experienced his usual urges in a long time and was fighting hard to keep them suppressed as he lifted the woman up and carried her out of the building.

Joy opened her eyes up and saw a dark-haired fairly handsome young man with squinty eyes standing over her. She looked back at the burning building. "The pokemon." She pleaded "You have to save them."

Hearing Nurse Joy's desperate pleas combined with his general concern for the well-being of all pokemon Brock rushed back into the still burning center. He had forgotten Lombre and Mudkip momentarily and was a little surprised to see them still fighting the fire from within the building. "Guys there are some injured pokemon in here!" He shouted "We can't let Joy down!" The pokemon were reenergized by the change in Brock's demeanor. He usually gave them orders in a monotone since he'd been inducted into Team Rocket. Now he seemed like the old Brock who's only goal was to please the first pretty woman he saw and make her all madly in love with him. The pokemon ran around the center frantically searching for the distressed pokemon. Brock kicked open a door and found a room full of injured and sick pokemon. Most were small and Brock found some Chansey in the room tending to the confused pokemon. Joy hadn't gotten a chance to give the Chansey any orders before the explosion which caused the fire in the center knocked her out.

"We need to get these pokemon out of here!" Yelled Brock. There was no fire in the room thankfully but smoke was steadily pouring into the room. The Chansey now saw the urgency of the situation and quickly took action. Soon all the injured pokemon were on their way out of the center.

…

The sensational sisters were also given the same task as Brock. They opted to use their pokemon to like fire hoses and put out the various fires around the city. Since there were three of them all with a variety of water-types the task wasn't a difficult one.

"You know what girls?" Asked Lilly "We could get away now if we wanted to."

"What do you mean?" Asked Violet

"We've got all out pokemon and they even gave us Misty's Seadra and Seaking." Said Lilly "If we ran now they wouldn't have any leverage to force us to come back."

"There's like only one problem with that idea sis." Said Daisy "If we ran now we'd be fugitives and probably end up dead like Misty."

"You really think she didn't make it?" Asked Violet sadly. They all gave Misty a hard time but deep down they did care about her.

"They haven't found her yet have they?" Asked Daisy "If she was alive she probably would have been found by now."

"Maybe not." Said Lilly "She's not stupid. If she managed to get away without getting caught then she probably is hiding somewhere or she disguised herself somehow."

"Maybe, but we still can't risk making a run for it." Said Daisy "As much as I want to it's probably a lot better with Team Rocket right now than on your own against them."

With the idea of running gone the three young women continued fighting the raging fires around the city.

…

Surge and Blaine were assigned to help take on Lugia. Both having pokemon that were better at starting fires than putting them out it made since that they'd be on the force assigned to stop the rampaging avian. Surge called out his faithful Raichu while Blaine called out a vicious looking Magcargo. With them were Creig and Butch who both called out their pokemon. Butch called out his Sableye and Creig called out Aerodactyl. Around them several other rockets sent out Sneasles and Golems. Some had Electrodes and Magnaton and all were called to aid in the fight against Lugia.

Lugia wasn't impressed by the masses of pokemon before him. He'd beaten all of these same pokemon on an individual or small group basis while in his training and fighting them all together would be no different. The bird had been ordered to destroy and that's what he intended to do. Opening his mouth wide he gathered in air and charged it with his own energy. The air started to glow a white-red color and soon there was a massive beam in Lugia's maw. He wasted no time in releasing the awesome Aero Blast and immediately followed it up with a display of Ancient Power. The rocks around the city floated into the air and surrounded Lugia. He drew power from his surroundings increasing all of his attributes and with a mighty roar hurled the rocks down like meteors and bombarded the pokemon and their trainers with them. Lugia suddenly heard a voice in his left ear and recognized it as his master's.

"_Lugia do not kill any of the Rockets or their pokemon._" Warned Giovoni through the earpiece he'd installed in Lugia's ear. "_Don't damage the town any further and concentrate on defending yourself. This is now a training exercise for you and I expect to see at least half, if not all, of the pokemon down there fainted in the next five minutes. Attack!_"

Lugia soared high into the air and obediently obeyed his master's orders. He saw that the Rockets were steadily backing away from the town and decided to follow after them. He didn't get far though because a purple tail snaked around his neck and violently through him toward the ground. Mewtwo had finally joined the battle and he was not happy.

…

Giovoni was dumbstruck at what he saw. In the sky above the plummeting Lugia stood his creation, Mewtwo. Of all the places for the clone to show up he never dreamed it would be during a mission like this. Luckily though Giovoni was one to prepare for almost _any_ situation and he'd had the foresight to carry around the means to subdue the clone. All he needed now was a little distraction for his newest prey.

"Creig." Said Giovoni into his headset.

"_Yes sir?_" Came the voice of Creig over the communicator.

"Do you see that cat-like creature who just attacked Lugia?" Asked Giovoni

"_Yes sir, but I have no idea what it is._" He said uneasily

"All you need to know is that it is an EXTREMELY strong psychic-type and that you must keep it occupied at all costs. Forget the plan and keep attacking that pokemon."

"_Yes sir!_" Said Creig

"Lugia." Said Giovoni now changing the frequency to match that of the bird's receiver. "Ignore all other pokemon except the one that just attacked you. Annihilate it at all costs."

He watched as Lugia began to fly back up into the air while using Recover. He knew that the bird didn't have a chance at defeating Mewtwo but that wasn't the point. He only needed the clone distracted long enough to carry out his plan.

…

Mewtwo dodged the incoming Shadow Balls and fired back some of his own. His reflexes were superb and he had no trouble in telegraphing the attacks before they were even executed. He knew that several of the electric pokemon were getting ready to charge up Thunder attacks so he moved toward Lugia who had rejoined the fight. The clone pokemon shot a Shadow Ball right at the Sea Guardian's head. Lugia moved to the side and fired back with a Dragonbreath. Mewtwo dodged the attack easily and quickly moved to float directly over Lugia. Thinking that the clone was trying a sneak attack, Lugia quickly fired a Shadow Ball of his own at Mewtwo. The clone moved so swiftly it seemed as if he'd teleported. As soon as he was gone from his position above Lugia a dozen Thunder attacks slammed into the bird and he grunted in pain. The attacks had been meant for Mewtwo, but since he'd moved at the last second they hit Lugia instead.

Mewtwo suddenly realized that the pokemon were all around one area and that with one good attack he could most likely take them all out if he aimed correctly he concentrated on the earth directly underneath and around the clustered pokemon. He waved his hands around quickly and a whirlwind bagan to form around the pokemon. He focused harder on the ground beneath them and it suddenly began to crumble. Once this happened the wind picked up the newly created shale and pebbles and morphed into a vicious sandstorm. Mewtwo wasted no time in continuing his assault as he fired a well aimed Blizzard attack right at the heart of the storm. Now there was a massive spire of wind, dirt and snow which sucked up all the trainers and pokemon in the area. Mewtwo sensed something behind him and quickly moved out of the way. Lugia was expecting this however and instead of releasing his charged Aero Blast he kept gathering energy and rushed straight for the clone. Since Lugia was also a strong psychic Mewtwo had difficulty reading his mind and had no idea what the bird was planning. Even though Lugia was now a brainwashed slave of Team Rocket, his centuries of fighting experience weren't going to waste. He spread his wings wide and enfolded Mewtwo in a tight aerial bear hug. The clone pushed against Lugia with all his might but his efforts were in vain. Lugia released the Aero Blast at point blank range and sent himself and Mewtwo crashing into the ground at an incredible speed.

Lugia was exhausted and had no more strength left to even use Recover on himself. The same could not be said for Mewtwo however. He started healing himself and turned to see the crater where Lugia had landed. Standing on the other side of the large hole was a man Mewtwo loathed with every fiber of his being. "You!" He hissed venomously

"Hello Mewtwo." Said Giovoni as if he were greeting an old acquaintance "It's been a while."

"Not long enough human." He said venomously

"Now is that any way to talk to your mentor?" Asked Giovoni mockingly. He flipped a switch on the side of his headset cutting off all outside sound. "Perish Song." He said simply.

Mewtwo heard an eerie melody coming from behind him. He turned around to see an Absol. This one didn't look like any ordinary Absol though. Its fur held a red tinge and where it should have been pure white and where its fur would have been black there was a crimson red. Mewtwo clutched his ears in pain. The song penetrating every fiber of his being. All he wanted to do was lie down, just for a moment. He was so distracted with trying to fight the affects of the song that he lost his concentration on the maelstrom holding the trainers and their pokemon. He was also too disoriented to notice that Giovoni had gotten out a silver and gold colored pokeball.

"Activation code, Gamma, Sigma, Epsilon, 23580, Pokeball Go!" The ball started to glow once Giovoni uttered the activation code given to him by Professor Oak. He threw the ball and it struck the weakening clone in the back of the head. There was a flash of silver light and in an instant Mewtwo was captured inside the ball. The GS ball started to shake violently as Mewtwo tried with all his might to escape the hold of the world's most powerful pokeball. The process was much longer than that of a normal capture but soon enough a resounding chime was heard signifying a successful capture.

…

The smoke slowly cleared away to reveal Groudon floating in the air completely unharmed! He held the limp form of Meowth in one hand and Seviper, now normal sized, coiled around it's former passengers and Dustox in the other. He flung the pokemon back at the balloon where they landed neatly in the basket in a dog pile. Groudon laughed heartily at the looks on the Rocket's faces.

"That fool didn't even know what hit him." He said.

"Jess?" Whispered James "Since when can he speak English?"

"I don't know James." Said Jessie thinking back to weather she'd ever heard Groudon talk normally.

"You three have served your purpose." Said Groudon "I no longer require anything from you, so be gone!" He waved his hand at them and in one swift motion a blast of psychic energy ripped open the balloon and sent it swerving toward the horizon.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaiin!" They cried as the balloon sailed out of sight.

"Those fools were pathetic." Said Groudon "To think I had to put up with them just to get into a more suitable body." He stretched his newly acquired limbs and focused some of his new body's natural energies. Suddenly the gaps between the islands became non existent as the sea floor underneath them erupted to the surface in one fluid motion. Within seconds a whole new continent was formed stretching hundreds of miles in either direction. "That should get kyogre's attention." He mused

He floated into the air using his psychic energies. Now that he had control of a much stronger body he could make much better use of his power. He still couldn't use it to its full extent but it was much better than being inside of Meowth's body. He headed further north now able to sense exactly where his next target was. Soon the entire world would know and fear him at the mention of his very name, Deoxys.

…

**A/N: Okay, so I think I just made things a lot more catastrophic with this chapter. We've got Mewtwo captured by the last person who needs a super powerful legendary pokemon. On the other hand we've got a completely different evil force which came from outer space some time ago and is now bent on inflicting his revenge upon the world. I know most of you knew it was Deoxys so I felt it was useless to try and hide it any longer. Well leave all comments and concerns or just your opinions in a review and I'll be sure to respond to them in the next chapter.**

**Until Next Time…**


	27. A Dreamy Night in Ecruteak

**To the Reviewers:**

**Cdfe88-You know I am kind of freaked out at how you manage to come up with things that I had been thinking about. It is very odd. However I must thank you for telling me that Giovanni was spelled wrong. sigh I wish you would have told me sooner. I will spell it right from now on and I will fix it in ALL the other chapters…eventually. And on the matter of deaths I can promise you that there will be plenty of those. I did give an insanely powerful pokemon the chance of going on a psychopathic rampage and there's also that little matter of a deranged space alien bent on revenge and reclaiming his destroyed body. If those don't lead to deaths then nothing will.**

**Kgmck-117 I knew you knew it that's why I just decided to reveal it. I wasn't really trying to hide it, just not admitting it so much. **

**Ri2-I think your going to like this chapter. Yes the not-so-sensational sisters are pretty much cowards. But at least Brock got to cop a feel on a Nurse Joy . The future doesn't look good does it? And on the matter of who has the more evil villain. You win hands down. Your guys just evil and I mean that in every sense of the word. How you came up with all the stuff he did is anyone's guess and it proves that you need a lot more help than I do. But I still love your story and your insanely evil villain.**

**The Heir of Seth-Yeah Giovanni is in over his head this time. I wonder what's gonna happen to him once he gets what he wants…**

**Thebenjamin-Lol, bad enter button. At least it gave you an excuse to leave two reviews instead of the usual one. Thanks for telling me about that error I'll fix it…eventually. As I said in the last author's note Giovanni is the last person who needed to get Mewtwo and I wonder how the hell the teams can be balanced now? No I am not basing this like a sequel to the Deoxys movie. In truth I haven't even seen it, I had to work the day it cam on TV and never had a chance to rent it. I do know what happens in it though and since the Deoxys both leave at the end I couldn't use it if I wanted to. The only thing that I am using from that is the fact that Rayquaza fought Deoxys.**

Dreamy Night in Ecruteak

Something felt different. Mew couldn't tell what it was, but it was definitely something. Focusing her mind she searched for any possible reason why she couldn't sense Mewtwo. When they'd first left New Island they'd formed a telepathic bond, but after they parted ways Mewtwo got rid of his bond to Mew. However unbeknownst to him she'd formed another type of bond which allowed her to keep tabs on how his aura was shifting. At first he radiated hate and malice, but over time it changed to confusion and questioning. Recently she felt it shift again to contentment and fulfillment. Now though she couldn't feel it at all. She wrote it off as Mewtwo finally sensing her bond and disconnecting it. She had more important things to do than worry about an overly cynical, stubbornly celibate, stupid meanie like Mewtwo. She had finally caught up to who she was looking for and it was time to employ the direct approach.

…

"We finally made it." Declared Ash "Ecruteak City!"

_Wow we actually got here without getting lost. _Mused Aquaria to herself. "How long has it been…" She sighed.

"You've been here before?" Asked Ash

"Umm…" She stuttered. _Damnit Misty THINK_. "A couple of times a few years ago." She answered.

"Me too." Said Ash "Although last time I was here a bunch of bug pokemon got mad because these Rockets that used to follow me around broke one of the Crystal Bells."

"Trouble seems to just stick to you Ash." Said Aquaria smiling. She didn't know just how true that statement was.

("Can we please get to the Pokemon Center?") Asked Pikachu ("I'm hungry, tired and I could really use a bath.")

"Since when do you care about bathing?" Asked Ash "You usually just lick yourself clean."

("I haven't had a proper bath since Sootopolis.") Said Pikachu ("I would've gotten one in Charicific Valley, but I was injured at first and then I was preoccupied.")

"Fine we'll head over there now." Said Ash

It wasn't close to nightfall, but Ash figured Pikachu was most likely tired from the battles he'd had during the walk here. It was amazing how many trainers wanted to challenge him because he had a Hoenn League cap. They figured he had some pokemon that weren't native to Johto and they were right. He'd battled quit a few hikers and Pikachu had wanted to practice his Iron Tail on their rock-types. As a result he was quite tired.

They walked into the center and Ash checked them into a double room. As soon as they entered Pikachu bounded off to the bathroom and hopped into the bathtub. He noticed that the knobs for the bathtub were all the way at the top.

("Why do they put them all the way up there!") He complained. As he was contemplating a way to get up to the top in order to turn the knobs a jet of cold water blasted him from out of nowhere.

Mune stood in the doorway of the bathroom laughing hysterically. He'd used telekinesis to turn the cold water and shower knobs on. ("The look on your face was priceless!") He laughed. He stopped laughing when a Thunder Shock hit him. ("Was that really necessary?") He muttered.

("Was it necessary for you to soak me in ICE COLD water?") Asked Pikachu

Mune sighed and simply adjusted the water for the mouse pokemon. When the tub was where Pikachu wanted it he thanked Mune and told him that he needed his privacy. ("Why do you need privacy?") Asked Mune ("It's not like you wear clothes or anything.")

("That's my business not yours.") Said Pikachu

("Whatever.") Said Mune.

While the two pokemon had been in the bathroom having their "disagreement" another was taking place in the hallway.

"I want the left room." Said Ash

"No I need it." Said Aquaria

"Look I paid for this room so I get to choose." Said Ash his voice beginning to elevate.

"Listen Ash." Said Aquaria through gritted teeth "That room has a bigger bed and more space. And as far as you paying for this room goes, I didn't ask you to pay for it so I'm not obliged to agree to anything."

"I've got more pokemon than you do so I need more space for them to sleep!" Yelled Ash

"I said YOU had the smaller room not your pokemon!" Said Aquaria yelling back.

("Guys?") Asked Dawn worrying about where the argument was going

"Why would MY pokemon want to sleep in a room with YOU!" Asked Ash

Aquaria picked up Dawn and began to rub her behind the ears. The Eevee sighed with pleasure as the sensitive spot was caressed tenderly "See your pokemon like me."

Ash sent Dawn a look that clearly said "Traitor" but said nothing. "Whatever you can have the bigger room if you're going to whine about it all day." He walked into the smaller room and closed the door.

Aquaria had to restrain herself from bashing Ash's head in. She did NOT whine! She grudgingly went into her room, still carrying Dawn, and slammed the door. She set her bag on the bed and began to empty its contents. She saw her case of contacts and an almost empty bottle of hair dye. She went over to the mirror and pulled the top part of her hair in opposite directions so that she could check the roots. To her horror she noticed fiery-red roots looking back at her from her reflection.

("Why do you dye your hair?") Asked Dawn

Over the past few days she'd come to understand Dawn and Mune remarkably fast. She didn't know how she caught on so fast, but she did.

"Why do you ask?" Asked Aquaria trying to avoid the question.

("Well, that color looks pretty.") Said the Eevee

"I have my reasons." Said Aquaria

…

Pikachu "cha"ed in contentment as he floated in the nice hot water. Contrary to what most people thought pokemon enjoyed hot baths just as much as humans did, well maybe not rock, ground and fire types, but most of the others did. There was a bright pink flash and Pikachu jumped in surprise landing back in the water with a sizeable splash.

("Hello") Said a small catlike creature sweetly

Pikachu rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. No she was still there. A Mew was floating above the tub, talking to him.

("Uh…hi?") Said Pikachu dumbly. ("Can I help you?") He asked awkwardly.

("I hope so.") She said ("I don't have too many options left.")

("Options for what?") Asked Pikachu

("Mating of course.") She said as if he should have known.

("What!") He cried.

("Hey who are you talking to in there Pikachu?") Asked Mune who'd been standing at the door. He was locked out of all the other rooms so he figured that he'd wait for Pikachu to come out.

("Uh…") Said Pikachu. He wondered if Mune would believe him if he told him the truth.

("Nope.") Said Mew reading the mouse's mind. ("I'm only talking to you so no one else can see or here me.")

("Go away Mune!") Yelled Pikachu

"Hey I need to pee." Said Ash "Open the door!"

("Go ahead.") Said Mew ("He can't see me anyway.") Not waiting for Pikachu she undid the latch and let Ash walk in.

"Ah" He sighed as he did his business. "Hurry up Pikachu we're going out in a little while." With that he shut the door and left Pikachu alone. Or so he thought.

("Now where was I?") Asked Mew

("Mating.") Said Pikachu

("That's right!") She said ("I need you to help me out with that.")

("Why me?") Asked Pikachu. He was still in the shock stage so any coherent questions were not passing through his brain.

("As you probably know I'm compatible with any pokemon on the globe.") She said ("Problem is I'm so compatible that whatever offspring we have would be the same as the pokemon who I mated with. However there are a few exceptions.")

("Exceptions?") Asked Pikachu

("Mews have always been rare pokemon.") She explained ("But there used to be a few more of us than they are now. Apparently the original Mew knew how to copy herself and made a few more of her own species in order to continue on after she died. We live a long time but it's not forever. Those Mews mated with each other and a few mated with other pokemon. Those other pokemon had offspring that had haywire DNA. This made it so they could learn attacks that they normally couldn't learn or in today's time couldn't learn without TM's. There have been a couple of cases where A Mew and a descendant of a Mew mated. The eggs had a fifty-fifty chance of being either a Mew or the same pokemon as the other parent.")

("But that's how cross-breeding works anyway.") Said Pikachu

("Well, I told you that normally Mews can only produce other Mews if they mate with their own kind.")

("Now I get it.") Said Pikachu ("But I don't have any Mew blood in me so why would you want to mate with me?")

("Because you _do_ have Mew blood in you.") She said. ("I don't know how, but I can sense similarities between the both of us that I can't with other Pikachu.")

("Aren't there any other Mews you could do this with?") He asked. He really wasn't ready to be a parent yet. And he definitely didn't want to be one with someone he didn't even know. Granted some pokemon would jump on this chance in a heartbeat he just wasn't that kind of guy.

("No.") She said sadly ("I'm the last one, if you don't count Mewtwo, but he turned me down and there's no chance of him changing his mind.")

("IF I were to agree what would happen when the egg hatches?") He asked

("I'd take it and raise it in my rainbow cloud if it were a Mew.") She said

("And it it's a Pichu?") He asked

("You'd take care of it.") She said matter-of-factly ("I want to continue my species not raise a yellow furball that shocks people.")

("No deal.") Said Pikachu

("WHAT!") Roared Mew ("How can you turn down the request of a lonely legendary pokemon!")

("Like this.") Said Pikachu ("NO!. Now if you don't mind I need to finish my bath before my trainer comes back.")

With that said he proceeded to ignore the flabbergasted Mew who was fuming. She wasn't going to give up so easily. She probed Pikachu's mind for some information and teleported away. There was more than one way to skin a Delcatty.

…

Aquaria was just getting ready to head out of her room when the door was pushed open and a yellow mouse came bounding in.

("Hey Ash I'm-") He stopped when he saw Aquaria ("Oh hey Misty, where's Ash?")

("Who's Misty?") Asked Dawn

"PIKACHU!" She yelled exasperatedly. Figuring there was no use in lying, since Dawn would know at least two days after they left Ecruteak, she told the Eevee what the situation was.

("So that's why you died your hair.") She said ("But you should really tell Ash who you are. He deserves to know.")

"Is everyone going to say that when they find out?" She asked

("No,") Said Pikachu ("Ash is going to probably be angry, hurt, upset and in an overall pit of depression after you tell him.")

"Thank you for boosting my self esteem." Said Aquaria

("Anytime.") Said Pikachu

"I need to go get a few things." She said "Want to come Dawn?"

("Sure.") Said the Eevee. She hopped off of the bed and into Aquaria's arms.

"Care to join us Pikachu?" She offered.

("No I need to think about a few things.")

"Suit yourself." She left the room leaving Pikachu to think about whatever it was he was thinking about. She walked toward the exit and stopped when she saw Ash's room door slightly open. She noticed him sitting on his bed holding something small and blue. Curious she walked closer and noticed that there was a familiar looking handkerchief sitting beside him on his bed.

"I should have been there." She heard him say to himself. "If I had been there then maybe I could have stopped them from getting her." He sighed and lifted the object in his hands to eye level. It was a blue badge in the shape of a water droplet. "This is the only one I have left." He said "And I swear on the Cascade Badge you gave me that if I ever see you again Mist I'll tell you truth." He put the badge down on the handkerchief and stuffed it into his hat before putting it back on his head. "I'll tell you how much I love you."

She suppressed a gasp at his last statement. He loved her. He said it and she heard it with her own ears. Now what was she supposed to do? Pikachu's words came back into her mind as she processed this new information.

Flashback

("I still don't understand why you won't tell Ash.") He said ("He deserves to know Misty. You don't know how much it hurt him when he thought you were dead. Then once his mom died he had given up all hope.")

"It was his mom Pikachu, of course he was upset." Said Misty "Loosing a parent is a hard thing to go through."

("It wasn't just his mom Misty.") Argued Pikachu ("His mother meant a lot to him but so do you and Brock.") He paused before adding ("Especially you.")

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked

("I think you know.") He said

End Flashback

"…_Especially you."_ _That's what he meant._ She thought to herself. Now she knew that when she told Ash he would definitely be hurt. She also knew that he'd probably hate her once she did tell him. Not sure on what to do she slowly made her way out of the double room and headed off to get some more hair dye and collect her thoughts. She was oblivious to the brown eyes that watched her as she left.

_Why was she watching me?_ Thought Ash. He'd noticed several suspicious actions from Aquaria lately and he intended to get to the bottom of it. He went over to Aquaria's door and opened it. Inside he found Pikachu sleeping on the bed apparently exhausted. He noticed Aquaria's bag on the foot of the bed and a square case beside it. He walked over and picked up the case. Opening it up he saw that there were several pairs of purple contacts. He wasn't sure why she had those but what really shocked him was the almost empty bottle of black hair dye. _Why does she need hair dye?_ He wondered. He looked around for a few minutes and even rummaged through the bag. He didn't find anything else which was suspicious so he decided to leave and see if he could find anything by following her. He barely got close to the door when he felt something hit his shoulder.

("Going somewhere Ash?") Asked Pikachu who had perched atop Ash's shoulder. He'd watched his trainer looking through Misty's things and was curious as to what he'd do now.

"Have you noticed anything odd about Aquaria?" He asked

("Maybe.") Said Pikachu

"If you know something tell me." Said Ash

("You were gonna follow her right?") He asked

"I was planning on it." Said Ash

("Then do it.") Said Pikachu

Ash sighed. If Pikachu was determined not to say anything there was nothing Ash could do to get it out of him. He set off to track down Aquaria and luckily for him, or maybe unluckily a pale pink aura surrounded him.

…

Mune sighed in contentment. He was now occupying the tub much in the same way Pikachu had been. The sound of the door slamming knocked him out of his revelry. He hopped out of the water and used his telekinesis to unplug the drain. The tub was now home to a lot of shed fur, both in yellow and dark purple. Figuring he'd clean it up later he walked out of the bathroom and looked around. No one was there. He shrugged and went into Ash's room taking advantage of the peace and quiet to meditate.

…

It just so happened that Ash spotted Aquaria heading into a department store. He trailed her at a distance and followed her to the hair care products in near the back of the store. She picked up a bottle of black dye and headed toward the check out counter. Ash just happened to overhear an interesting conversation between her and Dawn.

("Why'd you choose black anyway?") Asked Dawn

"I didn't really choose it." She said "After I got out of the hospital Diane came up with the idea for me to disguise myself. She picked out the dye, I just cut my hair."

("How long was it?") Asked Dawn

"It came a little ways down my back." She responded "At least when I let it down anyway. Ash used to tell me to keep it down and he even tried to get Brock to convince me, but I never listened."

("He must have thought it looked better that way.") Said Dawn

"Maybe…"

Ash tuned the rest of the conversation out. Even his mind was fast enough to figure out what was going on. The pokemon, the odd behavior, the awkward silences and the fact that she had been spying on him before she left. He now knew that Aquaria could be no one else but Misty Waterflower. It all just clicked into place. Why she sounded and looked so familiar. Why the pokemon always glanced at him when they were out of their pokeballs. He then had a though. If Aquaria was Misty and she had been watching him earlier then that meant…

("You okay?") Asked Pikachu concerned.

"You knew." He said simply

Pikachu nodded ("She has her reasons.") He said ("So try not to be mad. She'll tell you when she's ready.")

"Why doesn't she trust me?" He asked "After all we've been through together you'd think I'd be the one person she'd confide in." He turned around and started heading out of the store. He had a lot to think about and no amount of Pikachu's consolation could sort out the pieces of his heart. Misty heard what he said and still didn't tell him. What this proved is that she didn't care enough nor trust him enough to ever reciprocate what he felt about her. He felt betrayed, used and downright angry.

Pikachu simply rode on his friend's shoulder quietly contemplating the events of his own day.

…

That night Misty had a very interesting dream. She was standing back on the riverbank north of Pallet on a starlight night. She and Ash were sitting side by side and Ash's arm was around her shoulder holding her close. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and relaxed into his embrace. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"You know I love you right?" He asked

"You told me the same thing two minutes ago." She said smiling. "And again I love you too."

"Do you?" He asked "If you love me so much then why are you lying to me?" He didn't say it with hatred or anger, in fact his voice was still soft and had a loving tone to it. But his voice also held a deeper more subdued tone. A tone tinged with hurt and confusion.

She remained silent for a few minutes before finally answering. "You'll hate me if I do."

"You don't know that." He said "You thought I'd never feel the same way that you claim to and that's why you kept having those nightmares. You won't know unless you try."

"It's too much of a risk." She said

"I'll find out eventually anyway." He told her "And if it isn't from you I can tell you that it will hurt me a lot more. You heard me say it. I love you and you know I'd never lie about something that important. You saw me promise on the Cascade Badge and I even said you 'gave' it to me instead of the saying that I 'earned' it." He smiled and kissed her again. "You don't have to believe me, but if you don't tell me about what your doing soon we may never have a moment like this."

He then suddenly disappeared and Misty was left alone by the calmly flowing river. Now that Ash was gone the scene slowly began to change. All the life seemed to flow away form everything around her. The grass lost it's brilliant green color and the water began to grow dark and murky instead of clean and clear. The waterfall lost the rainbow that seemed to form across it and it too began to become dirty and polluted. Everything around her was just like she felt now that Ash was gone. Empty.

…

Ash had a lot more trouble getting to sleep that night. No matter what Pikachu had tried to explain to him his ears refused to listen. It didn't occur to him to look at any of the positives of the situation. All he could see was negative. Eventually he managed to get into a state of half restfulness, but this soon turned into a very deep sleep as the dragon emblem began to glow softly.

…

He was flying. Not on any of his flying-types, but actually flying. He was so high up that he could see the whole Kanto/Johto continent sprawled out before him. It was evening and he could see small flickers of lights from houses and buildings far below. Soon he was done flying over that region and was heading south. He flew over the Orange Archipelago and on over Hoenn. Once over Hoenn he noticed the Sky Pillar stretching high into the sky on its hidden island. He then turned westward and continued on his circuit at an incredible speed. He soon came to a very large continent that he was sure hadn't been there on his flight yesterday. Yesterday? Had he done this before? He was very confused as to what he was seeing.

"_What the hell?"_ Thought a voice inside his head

_Huh?_ He thought _Did I just hear something._

"_Who the hell's messing around in my head?" _Asked a very annoyed voice

_Isn't this my head?_ Asked Ash

"_No!" _Said the voice _"I'm not going to ask again. WHO'S IN MY HEAD!"_

Ash winced and figured that he'd better answer the question. _Ash, Ash Ketchum…sir?_

"_Ash?"_ Asked the voice with an air of recognition. _"That explains it."_

_Who are you and what's going on?_ Thought Ash. It seemed that all he had to do was think something and whosever voice that was knew what he was saying.

"_Don't tell me you forgot who gave you that mark on you head." _Said the voice

_Rayquaza?_ Asked Ash

"_The one and only"_ Responded the young Dragon God.

_How…?_ Started Ash

"_I'll explain."_ Said Rayquaza _"One of the other things that the Dragon God's Emblem bestows on its wearer is a bond between it and whichever Dragon God put it on them. In the past the bond has allowed strange things to take place and on some occasions the spirit of the wearer and the Dragon God become linked. Like now. This usually happens when one or the other is experiencing a high level of emotion. Have you been angry or something recently?"_

_Yeah _Said Ash, He started thinking about all the deceit and lies he'd been told by his supposed "best friend."

"_Hey don't write her off just because she lied to you." _Said Rayquaza _"She had her reasons and you need to know what they are before you place judgment. You love her, think of this as a test of love."_

_How did you know that?_ Asked Ash

"_I'd ask if you were that slow, but since I can read all your thoughts right now the question is pointless." _Said Rayquaza

_You didn't have to say it like that! _Thought Ash angrily _If you can read all my thoughts how come I can't read yours?_

"_I'm not an emotional wreck whose thinking so loud that he could wake up a Snorlax." _Replied Rayquaza _"And as much as I'm enjoying this little chat of ours I have things to do. So please calm down and sort out your own emotions."_

_I'll try_ Said Ash

"_Maybe this will help." Said Rayquaza "Every cloud has a silver lining no matter how dark it seems. In other words you can always find a positive in any negative situation. Here's a big help. SHE'S ALIVE AND NOT IN TEAM ROCKET!"_

Ash gasped and suddenly he was sitting back in his bed at the pokemon center. Had that really just happened? Had he really just talked to Rayquaza while he was dreaming? Weather if it had been real or not he knew that tomorrow he needed to talk to Misty and no matter what the circumstances he was going to complete his promise.

…

All it would take is a little ingenuity and some serious acting. She could do this, she knew she could. She was Mew the strongest Psychic pokemon around, although Celebi, Lugia and a few others would debate that. She was going to get her mate and the child was going to be a Mew no matter how long it took. If she had to do it a million times she was going to continue her species no matter what, and Pikachu was going to help her. Weather if he knew he was doing it or not.

…

**A/N: Slightly shorter but interesting nonetheless. I was starting to get writer's block right before those dreams at the end, but luckily some magical herbs are great for inspiration . I was checking my stats today and found that I have a lot more readers than I thought I did. It seems that half the people that read this have not left a single review. They have the story on the favorites and even have me on Story/Author alert and yet haven't left a comment. . You don't have to just knowing that you like this enough to put me in your favorites is praise enough, but still I wish I hadn't had to look at my stats to find out you people exist, and you all know who you are . I won't beg but I will ask extremely nicely. Please, Please review. (Puppy dog eyes). BTW, if you tried to review once and couldn't because the anonymous reviews were disabled, I enabled that way back in chapter 7 after Ri2 told me in a review that it wasn't on. So now you have no excuse .**

**Until Next Time…**


	28. Interrupted by Rockets?

**To the Reviewers:**

**Ri2-What about them? You're right about the reviews probably. I don't mind if they don't review all the time I just would have liked to have known they were around. Maybe they're those people that wait until a story's done to review it. W/E though. If you don't like Mew that's because you're not supposed to. If you did like her character right now I'd have been surprised, especially since I don't like her much. The Mew blood would explain why Pikachu is stronger and so that's my explanation for it. Even if Crawdaunt was part Mew I don't even know if she's THAT desperate. Although she probably would be. No the scene with Mune wasn't necessary and I fixed the one error you told me about, thanks. I only added the scene so some random smart ass couldn't go: "Where's Mune? He just disappeared during the chapter." Maybe I'm overcompensating but oh well. Glad you liked the dreams the herbs really helped with those. And if you wanted worse… You're welcome for being evil and I have to wonder what you're going to do to those Wynaut…(cringes)**

**Kgmck-117-Mew's a whore? LOL many share your sentiment.**

**The Heir of Seth-If you feel sorry for Pikachu now just wait until I really start to torture the poor guy .**

**Cdfe88-Celebi was already mentioned and should be making an appearance or two sometime between now and the end. No one likes Mew, lol. You'll have to wait for your other questions to be answered as I continue writing this.**

**Now on to Chapter 28…**

Interruptions by…Rockets?

Misty awoke the next morning unsure of how to approach Ash. She knew she needed to tell him and that it had to be today. She knew he felt the same way about her as she did him so now she felt even worse about the hurt she was going to bring to him. She didn't know if he would accept her explanation why she had deceived him or not. She had to amend this thought quickly. She didn't have an explanation for deceiving him, she barely had an excuse. She could explain why she was hiding from Team Rocket, but not why she hid from him. She took a deep breath and headed out of her room to find him. Whatever happened she was determined to make him understand, somehow.

…

Ash sat in the lobby of the Pokemon Center resting his head on the back of the couch. He'd resolved that the dream must have been real because the mark on his head kept tingling. What he hadn't resolved was what he should do about Misty. Should he just come out and confront her straight on. Or should he try to trap her in one of her elaborate lies. Ash painfully realized that he wasn't the best with words and Misty had always managed to outsmart him in many an argument, so this meant that both of those first plans were out. The best thing for him to do was wait for her to come to him. After thinking about what Rayquaza said he found himself seeing a lot of positives despite the deceit. Misty was alive, she wasn't in Team Rocket, if she escaped maybe Brock did too and she had a legendary pokemon that was very powerful. Once this whole "Identity Crisis" was over with he was going to have to ask her about what happened at the Gym.

He heard her footsteps before he saw her appear around the corner. He sat up and eyed her as she approached. She looked a bit nervous and a tad bit apprehensive. She made her way to the seat across from him and sat down to look him in the eyes. Violet met Brown and they just stared at each other for a minute.

"Ash we need to talk." She said

"Oh, what about?" He said

"There's something you need to know about me." She started

"Well you already answered all my questions, so what else could there be?" He asked

"I wasn't totally honest about what I told you." She said "Ash I should have told you up front and I want you to know I'm really sorry about that. I don't know why I didn't just tell you and to be honest I probably never will. But you need to know that I'm not who I told you I was." She paused

_Wow I thought she'd drag this on a little longer_ Thought Ash _Guess she wants me to say something…umm. _"Spit it out Mist, you can tell me any…" He stopped, what had he just said! He watched as her eyes grew wide.

"You knew?" She asked quietly

"Yesterday." He said "Me and Pikachu followed you to that store and I heard you talking to Dawn about your hair. I figured it out from that point."

"Ash I don't know what to say." She said

"Why?" He asked "I thought we could trust each other. After everything I told you about how much I missed my friends and how worried I was about all of you. You still didn't tell me." His voice was steadily growing louder. "I thought we were friends, no best friends. After over six years of us knowing each other and spending four of those six together everyday you kept something this huge from me!"

"Ash I-," He cut her off

"You already said you don't have a reason." Said Ash "You do all this and you can't even tell me why. What kind of friend are you!" He knew he was being harsh but the original anger at her was coming back in full swing. He couldn't close the cap on his emotions that he'd been holding down since yesterday.

"What do you want me to say?" Said Misty now matching his volume "I was hiding under this mask for almost two months now! When I saw you I did what I thought was best, I figured you might slip or something and Team Rocket would find out, I figured if you knew you might try extra hard to protect me, I don't really know what I figured but that's just what happened!"

Nurse Joy came from the back room to see what all the commotion was. In the meantime several trainers who had also been in the center turned to look at the spectacle. And a trio of people who were hiding in the bushes outside also peeked through the window when they heard the yelling.

"Hey homes isn't that that kid who we fought in Mahogany Town?" Asked Carlos

"Let's see…" Said Reece "Dark long hair?...Check. Stupid Pokemon League hat?...Check. Annoying electric rat?..." Just then Pikachu came running into the lobby also attracted by the two people arguing. "…There it is! Yeah that's the little punk."

"Wasn't there a memo that said he was on our A-List?" Asked Carlos

"Yes." Said Mitch "He's supposed to be the trainer of a legendary pokemon."

"Which one?" Asked Carlos

"I believe it was Entei." Said Mitch "If we could take it and any of his other pokemon we'd be in the running for promotions in no time."

"What's the plan then?" Asked Carlos

"Well I heard about this nifty plan that these Elite Rockets used to use most of the time…"

Meanwhile on the inside of the center the argument raged on.

"If I'd known you were going to be such an ass about it I probably should have never told you." Said Misty fuming.

"If I'm an ass then you're a selfish bitch with no regard for anyone else's feelings!" Retorted Ash

"What did you say!" Roared Misty

Ash didn't get to give an explanation because there was a loud crash and a wall of the pokemon center crumbled away and smoked started to fill the room. Maniacal laughter was heard and a triplet of black silhouettes could be seen each in a ridiculous pose. One in a kind of 'X' pose, one standing on his head and another who had one foot in the air.

"To scour the night and do what's wrong." Said a male voice with a Hispanic accent.

"To make the grip of evil firm and strong." Said one of the Rockets standing beside the Hispanic one.

"To make you suffer and cause you pain" Said the one in the middle

"To take from you and ensure our gain!" They said in unison.

"Carlos" Said the Hispanic one, launching himself into a series of cartwheels and landing in a squatting position.

"Reece" Said the other man. He suddenly jumped into the air pushing off the foot that had been off the ground and did a series of flips and landed opposite Carlos mimicking the other mans position.

"Mitch" Said the last man. He opted to do a series of back flips and landed with one leg on each of his squatting team mates' shoulders.

"Team Rocket circling the Earth day and night." They said together "Surrender now or you won't live through the night!" A pokeball on Mitch's belt twitched and out popped a delibird.

"Bird Bird" ("That's Right") He chirped.

"Huh?" Said a confused Ash.

"So you've got more Rockets following you now." Said Misty dryly.

They were the only trainers who hadn't been intimidated by the Rockets' entrance. The other trainers were mostly very young or had very weak pokemon at the time because they all ran out screaming as soon as the wall caved in. Nurse Joy was still in shock about the situation having heard about her sister's cousin-in-law's step mother's second cousin twice removed experience in Lavender town the other day. Pikachu was sparking dangerously in the direction of the Rockets.

"Remember us Punk?" Asked Carlos

"No." Said Ash figuring they must have been talking to him.

"Don't play dumb hand over that legendary pokemon NOW!" Yelled Reece

"What legendary pokemon?" Asked Ash. No one knew he had Silver excluding his pokemon, two nurse Joys and Wallace. He hadn't even told Misty. "If you've met me before, which I'm almost sure you haven't, you know I won't just give you my pokemon."

"What's up with him man?" Asked Carlos "You said that entrance was designed to intimidate and frighten your victims into giving up their pokemon."

"Maybe we should have done that other motto." Said Mitch "It didn't sound that intimidating though, so maybe we'll try it next time."

"Hey we've got pokemon to steal!" Said Reece "Team meetings can wait for later!"

"Right." Said the other two snapping back to attention.

("I finally get to fry some Rockets!") Said Pikachu gleefully sending a vicious look toward Dellibird. The ice-bird waddled backwards a few steps nervously.

"We came prepared this time punk!" Yelled Mitch "Your Charizard caught us by surprise last time but not now!" He pulled out a remote with a large red button on it. There was a loud rumbling and suddenly a large robot that looked like an Omastar planted on tank wheels rolled up behind the rockets.

"With the Omatron 9000 fire will be no problem!" Cheered Reece

At this point Joy fainted. Her brain couldn't grasp around the concept of spandex-wearing men calling out giant robots to do their bidding, it was as if some cheap TV anime were taking place.

"You have Charizard?" Asked Misty

"Nope," Said Ash "He's still in the valley."

A panel in the robots shell opened up and the Rockets vaulted through it and took control of there mech.

"We should have though of this a long time ago!" Said Carlos "Whoever uses this strategy must be the boss's best agents by now."

"Yeah the tapes I saw were a few years old but I'm sure that team must be even better by now." Said Mitch. "We'd be just like them if we had one of those talking Meowths like I saw on the tapes."

"Hey he's taking out a pokeball!" Called Reece who had actually been watching their opponents. His teammates turned just in time to see Ash release his Sceptile.

"I don't remember him having one of those." Said Carlos

"We didn't know he had Entei either so keep your guard up."

"Sceptile Bullet Seed" Ordered Ash

The jungle pokemon opened his mouth wide and fired a barrage of high-impact-seeds straight at the robot.

"Hurry up and hit the harden button." Cried Mitch

There was a slight flash from the robot right before the seeds hit. Upon impact the seeds were reflected right of the robot not even chipping its paint job.

"Fire the flame cannon!" Called Reece. He hit a button and a large cannon like that of a Blastoise came out from a slot in the front of the shell. The cannon shot a huge jet of flame right at Sceptile. The gecko was burnt to a crisp and Ash recalled it. He realized that these Rockets were a little smarter than the ones which usually bothered him. Jessie and James hardly ever thought of type-advantage tactics besides blocking electricity.

"Pikachu Thunder Bolt." Called Ash.

"Quick withdraw!" Yelled Mitch. Carlos hit a button on his control panel and the machine suddenly withdrew itself into the sizable shell. The tank treads seemed to go into the ground so that only the shell could be seen. When the electric attack hit the energy coursed through the machine but didn't do any damage.

"Now it's our turn!" Yelled Mitch. He pulled a lever and hit a couple of buttons. A large cannon came from the top of the Omastar shell and pointed straight at Ash.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Asked Ash turning to Misty

"I'm a bitch remember." She said curtly

"Oh come on this is not the time to argue!" Yelled Ash

("Guys…") Said Pikachu nervously.

"We wouldn't have an argument if you didn't say such stupid things all the time." Retorted Misty

("GUYS!") Yelled Pikachu. The cannons was charging slowly but surely and it was aimed right at Ash and Misty. Again however, he was ignored.

"We weren't arguing about how stupid I was. We were arguing about why you decided to deceive me the past three days!" Yelled Ash

("Okay that's it.") Said Pikachu. He jumped up and grabbed a pokeball from Ash's belt. ("Silver help me out.") He called as he threw the ball into the air. Silver came out of the ball and looked at the scene before him. The Rockets stopped in their tracks once they saw the legendary bird flying before them. Joy who had just started to regain consciousness opened her eyes, saw Silver and immediately fainted again.

"How many times do we have to go over this!" Yelled Misty "I'm sorry Ash, now get over it!"

"That's not the point now either." Said Ash "I wanted to know why you won't help me out with them." He pointed over to the Rockets.

("Silver use Psychic on that Omastar thing.") Said Pikachu

"_Aren't you going to stop them from arguing?" _Asked the Lugia while moving into position.

("I learned a long time ago that not even shocking them will stop their arguments.") Said Pikachu

Silver shrugged and started concentrating on his attack.

"Hey when did he get a Lugia?" Asked Carlos

"Yeah that wasn't in the memo." Said Reece

"Who cares?" Said Mitch "The question now is if this thing is psychic proof." They found out the hard way that it was not psychic proof. The Psychic blast ripped a hole through the power generator and it exploded. In a blinding flash and lots of smoke the Omatron 9000 exploded and sent its passengers sailing into the horizon.

"I hate heights!" Cried Reece

"Seems like we've done this before." Commented Carlos "I remember we did this last time we saw that kid."

"Can both of you shut up." Muttered Mitch. There was a slight ping and a little sparkle of light as they sailed into the distance.

"You're the one that doesn't listen, because if you had been you'd know why I did it in the first place!" Screamed Misty

"You know what?" Asked Ash "I don't even care anymore. All I want to do is get rid of Team Rocket and then…" He looked around and saw the whole in the wall and another in the ceiling where the Rockets had crashed through on their "exit". He also saw Silver hovering in front of the remains of the Omatron 9000. "Huh?"

("So you finally decided to stop arguing.") Pikachu said sarcastically ("I had to call Silver out just so he could take care of those goons because you were too busy being stupid.")

"I wasn't being stupid." Said Ash "I deserve some answers."

"I gave you answers already!" Yelled Misty very annoyed by Ash's lack of attentiveness.

("Yes she did Ash.") Said Pikachu ("I heard her and I was trying to tune her out.")

"Stay out of this Pikachu!" Both Ash and Misty yelled.

Pikachu shrugged and he and silver went off to look for Dawn and Mune. They'd been in the room all morning and Pikachu was wondering why they hadn't come out when all the noise started.

"Okay Mist." Said Ash trying to calm himself down finally. "Why don't you explain this to me one more time. Just why you were disguising yourself and what made you so afraid to tell me."

"Well its easier to start at the beginning." Said Misty as she and Ash walked back toward their room. The massive whole in the wall and unconscious nurse didn't seem to concern them. "Butch and Cassidy attacked the Gym. They had an army of Rockets with them all armed with some kind of gun. We were taken out of the Gym and out pokemon were confiscated. They made us watch as they put explosives around the Gym and blew it up. After that we were hit with some Sleep Powder. The next thing I remember is waking up feeling really sore and really tired. Some Rockets came in and showed me pictures of my pokemon being held captive. They had them all set to massacred and told me that if I didn't cooperate they'd torture me, my pokemon and/or my sisters. They said if that didn't get to me they'd settle for just killing me. They made me and the other Gym Leaders fight against the legendary birds. One day I had to fight Zapdos…" She trailed looking extremely sad.

"What happened?" Asked Ash. He knew Zapdos was one of the strongest electric-pokemon on the planet, and desperately wanted to know how she got out of that in one piece with only water-types.

"…Starmie" She suppressed sobs again as she recalled the horrific death of her starter pokemon. "That bitch!" She hissed "She wouldn't stop, she just kept shocking it."

"Mist stop." Said Ash "You don't have to tell me."

"No." She said defiantly "I need to say this. She killed Starmie." Tears now streamed down her face. "It was horrible Ash. She just had Zapdos shock it to death. That jewel in its chest shattered!" Ash gasped. He couldn't imagine seeing one of his pokemon die, let alone in such a horrible way as described by Misty. "I was so angry I released Gyarados and told him to use Rage."

"Uh-oh." Said Ash "What happened then?"

"He froze Zapdos with and Ice Beam at point blank range." She said "Then the twisters he'd released tore a hole in the wall and water started rushing in. I guess the prison must have been underwater because a lot of it was coming in fast. Domino recalled Zapdos and ran for it. They locked me in there and left me for dead. Luckily Gyarados was still sane enough to pull me out of there. After that I blacked out and when I woke up I was in a small hospital on Cianwood Island. It took about a week for me to recover from all the injuries and exhaustion, but afterwards I didn't know what to do. Then I heard about Pallet and your mom, so I figured I head there to see it for myself."

"Why would you want to see it?" Asked Ash "I saw the pictures on the news and its not something I'm in a hurry to see in person."

"I needed to be 100 certain." Said Misty "I couldn't just take the word that there were no survivors, especially when I knew that Team Rocket had done it."

"So you don't believe it was Gay like the news said." Stated Ash "I was afraid some people might actually believe he'd done it."

"Most do." Said Misty "From what I've heard people are shocked that the grandson of Prof. Oak would burn down his hometown over a loss at the Silver Conference.  
Some weird people even blame you, saying that you cheated to win your match and drove Gary off the deep end."

"That's crazy." Said Ash

"I know, but you know how those trainer fanatics are." She said smiling. "As I was saying once I woke up I wanted to leave. Diane, that's the nurse that helped me out after I recovered, told me to go the police. I told her it was a bad idea because that's the first place Team Rocket would put a contact. She didn't argue, but told me that if I was going to travel around I needed to disguise myself. I cut my hair and she gave me the dye and these contacts." She carefully removed the contacts from her eyes and Ash now saw the aquamarine eyes he'd been wanting to see for over a year. They were now at their room and stopped outside the door. "She also gave me that bike that _SOMEONE_ destroyed."

"I said it once and I'll say it again." Said Ash "It was Pikachu!"

"Whatever." Said Misty "After I left Cianwood I was heading for Goldenrod to catch the Magnet train. I stopped at a beach so I could do some swimming and got caught in a rip current. Suicune saved me and after he explained that he'd been looking for me, decided that he wanted me to be his trainer and go into Starmie's pokeball. After getting lost and finding a lake I eventually ran into you. I didn't know it was you at first and when I found out I was just nervous and afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Asked Ash "You can trust me."

"I know, but I was just being stupid." She said regretfully "Pikachu figured it out as soon as he saw me, so did Suicune come to think of it, and I just freaked out. I really am Sorry Ash."

"I know." He said "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been such an ass and I'm sorry for calling you a bitch."

"Your forgiven." Said Misty "This time, but if it happens again…" She left the treat unspoken so his mind could fill in possible consequences.

Ash simply nodded. "I meant what I said yesterday." He told her

"What?" She asked confused

"I know you were watching me yesterday before you left." He said "You heard what I said that's why you had that weird look on your face."

"Ash I-," She started

"Look I don't care if you don't feel that way about me." He said "I just want you to know I meant it." He was about to open the door and head in when she grabbed him and planted a very deep and passionate kiss directly on his lips. At first Ash was shocked, then he returned the Kiss with equal vigor. They both had been waiting for this moment for years and it was obvious by the intimacy in the kiss.

…

On the other side of the room Pikachu stood atop Mune holding Dawn so that she could see out of the peep hole.

("What are they doing?") Asked Pikachu

("They're holding each other really tight and they have their faces pressed into one another.")

("Yes!") Said Pikachu

("Why are you so happy?") Asked Mune

("Meowth owes me $200 now.") Said Pikachu happily

("You bet on their relationship with Meowth?") Asked Dawn

("Yeah it was a couple years ago though right before me and Ash got to Hoenn. Me and Meowth ended up wandering around this one city while Ash, Jessie and James were looking for us. We got to talking and eventually made a bet as to weather or not Misty and Ash would ever get together. Meowth bet that they'd probably never get together since she 'dumped' Ash and went back to Cerulean. I bet against him and that's why he now owes me money.")

("I see…") Said Dawn

("Guys you're getting heavy…") Said Mune. He collapsed under their weight and they formed an neat heap right in front of the door.

…

Ash and Misty both heard a crash from inside the room and broke their second…or was it third? Kiss. Ash opened the door and saw three pokemon piled on the floor looking dazed. When Pikachu saw Ash he quickly pulled himself together.

("So I guess this means you're not mad anymore?") Asked Pikachu

"What do you mean?" Asked Ash

("Well we saw that last part of your conversation.") Said Pikachu

"And…?" Said Ash

("We saw you making out with her.") Said Mune bluntly

"Oh…" Said Ash sheepishly

"You guys should mind your own business." Said Misty embarrassed.

They all had a good laugh about the whole situation and no more was mentioned about the past between Ash and Misty. They were more concerned about the present and making up for lost time.

…

The next day a few miles east north east of Ecruteak Mew was floating over the path. She was about ready to try plan B and was mulling over how to approach Pikachu once she started her new plan. Using the information in she'd gotten out of Pikachu she transformed into a Pikachu with slightly golden fur blue tinged eyes and an inch or so shorter than Pikachu himself. This was Pikachu's idea of the perfect mate and would definitely get his attention. She could sense his party approaching and decided to wait on the path in plane sight. What she hadn't planned on was, the Houndoom charging from out of the forest and hitting her with a Faint Attack. Nor did she see the several Houndour accompanying their leader. The pack of pokemon shot out flamethrowers which tinged with dark energy. This meant that she was unable to use her psychic powers to help her. Since she was in Pikachu form she was limited in what she could do. The Houndour began to bite and scratch at her as she desperately tried to dodge them. A few of the attacks landed and soon she was beginning to grow weak from the attacks.

…

Ash and Misty, now with more dye and replaced contacts, walked hand in hand down the path trailing the pokemon in front of them. Ash had asked Misty all the questions he'd been thinking about before and was now very concerned about the wellbeing of all the Gym Leaders in Giovanni's "care". He had told Misty everything about his adventures since leaving Brock and May back in Lillycove and they were now both caught up on each other's lives. They walked in a comfortable silence each content to be near the other. Their peace was broken when Pikachu suddenly gasped and he and the others took off toward the side of the path. Ash could hear sounds of a battle nearby and followed his pokemon into the woods.

The group found a pack of Houndour and a Houndoom mauling a helpless Pikachu. This one was a gold-like color and had bluish eyes. Pikachu took immediate action and unleashed a furious Thunder attack which caused half of the Houndour to faint and the other half to be severely hurt. The Houndoom took the attack in stride and launched a flamethrower. Pikachu dodged this easily using Agility and slammed into the Houndoom with a Quick Attack. He then jumped into the air and slammed an Iron Tail right between the dog's horns. Houndoom was instantly knocked out by the attack and the remaining Houndour figured that it was better to leave their small snack alone ran for their lives. Pikachu went over to the injured mouse and nudged her a few times.

Mew opened her eyes and barely caught a glimpse of Pikachu before she blacked out again. Ash and Misty finally arrived and Ash ran over to the downed pokemon. He picked her up and went into his back to get a hyper potion. He opened the mouse pokemon's mouth and put a little bit of the potion onto her tongue. She swallowed the liquid and soon the wounds on her body started to recover. Ash carried the pokemon for a few h ours while they were walking. They'd decided to take the female Pikachu with them to Mahogany town since the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak had its medical wing temporarily closed due to damages. After making camp and getting a fire going the Pikachu finally opened her eyes and looked around. She didn't know where she was, how she got there or better yet, who any of these people were. The worst part was that she couldn't seem to remember who she was either.

"Hey you awake?" Asked Ash

The pokemon looked up at him confused. ("Where am I?") She asked

"With friends." Said Ash "We found you getting attacked by some Houndour and we're taking you to a pokemon center."

She vaguely knew that a Pokemon Center was for hurt pokemon and that Houndour were wolf-like pokemon with black fur and brownish-red muzzles and white bands around their feet. Not knowing what else to do she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

She awoke sometime during the night and saw Pikachu staring down at her. ("How are you feeling?") He asked

("My head hurts.") She said rubbing her head.

("You got hit a lot of times before I chased them off.") He told her

("You beat a pack of Houndour?") She asked amazed.

("Yeah I saw them attacking you and I couldn't just stand there.")

("Thank you.") She said genuinely grateful.

("Anytime.") Said Pikachu ("What's your name?") He asked

("I…") She started thinking about what her name was. It made her head hurt very bad whenever she tried to think about who she was. ("I don't remember.") She said sadly.

("You don't?") He asked surprised ("Those dogs must have hit you pretty hard if you've got amnesia.") He thought for a minute. "How 'bout Electra?" he asked

("Sounds pretty.") She said ("I guess I'll take it until I remember my real name.")

So it was decided that Electra would be her name, at least for the time being. Pikachu kept her company until they both were too tired to stay awake any longer. In the morning they both rode on Ash's shoulder and continued on their way to Mahogany Town.

…

**A/N: That's that. Hope you liked this chapter and the next one will be arriving soon. Comments, Questions feel free to ask me. Review, E-mail and heck my AIM name is the same as my Penname so you can message me that way too, if I'm on. **

**Until Next Time…**


	29. Trainers' Forest

**To the Reviewers:**

**Kgmck-117-I don't have anything like that involving Deoxys in my current plans, but then I didn't have half the stuff I put in the fic in my plans either. I had something similar to that in mind, but that idea might work better, so if I do use it thanks in advance.**

**Ri2-I thought you'd like that part . I concider myself a pokeshipper as well so it was only a matter of time before something like that happened. I don't care if the Mew thing is Cliché as long as it advances the plot the way I want it to go. Why shouldn't the Rockets copy Jessie and James? Their the best…(can't keep straight face).**

**The Heir of Seth-Thanks for the compliment and who says Mew WILL get her memory back?**

**Cdfe88-Yes Mew is desperate. She is the last of her kind and wants to preserve her species. She didn't use a normal Transform attack. In my view Mews are much better than Ditto so they can hold a form as long as they want. Since she doesn't remember that she is a transformed Mew she'll stay in Pikachu form until she does. I suppose that the baby would be a Pichu, of course Mew was going to turn back to normal right before the 'crucial' moment of course ;). **

**Antithesis-1. Yes she does honest to Ho-Oh. 2. Yes I have and I hope he updates that fic soon.**

**Thebenjamin-That might have worked if you put a few lines in between the actual statement and the "Sike!" I almost believed you anyway though. The Mew situation should turn out to be pretty interesting and Ash and Misty have always had anger issues. The Rockets didn't hear the part about her masquerading and the other trainers didn't hear much because as soon as the argument got loud Team Rocket showed up. Technically they thought they were alone when they were kissing. Pikachu decided to be a peeping chu that's all.**

**Riika-I don't care if you don't review every chapter as long as you do at least once in a while. That's not a silly question, at least I don't think so. I imagine her hair is red like it is naturally though, unless she was dreaming about being Aquaria then its probably black.**

**Okay enough for the responses Here's your next chapter…**

Trainer's Forest

Jessie, James and Meowth sat in front of the remnants of their balloon. They had flown quite a long distance in their destroyed vehicle. Now they were in the middle of a forest and only had a vague idea as to where they were.

"What's north of where we were?" Asked James

"Well there's Orre, Kanto and Johto." Said Jessie "Orre is a giant desert, so we must be in Kanto or Johto."

"Which one?" Asked Meowth.

His answer came in the form of several Spinarak and a few Ariados converging on their position.

"Are Ariados native to Kanto?" Asked James nervously

"No, you usually only find them in Johto if their wild." Said Jesse slowly backing away from the approaching pokemon. "Nice spiders, good spiders." She said trying to calm the angry looking bugs.

"So we have some new challengers. " Said a highly confident male voice. There was a rustling in the trees above the rockets and several people of varying types jumped down in front of them. There were several bug catchers, who went over and started petting the Spinarak, Some people dressed in ninja uniforms, a few creepy looking kids who seemed to blend in with surroundings and a psychic or two. The man that spoke was wearing an orange windbreaker and mesh pants which had a white stripe going down the leg. Under his jacket he wore a white T-Shirt and atop his head he sported greenish-blonde hair. He radiated cockiness and spun a pokeball around on his index finger. "As leader of Trainer's Forest, I, Cool Trainer Tai challenge you to a battle."

"We're kind of busy right now." Said James

"Yes, we don't have time to play with you kids." Said Jessie mockingly "No run along little boy, I think I hear your mommy calling."

"You will accept." Said Tai "Or else."

"Or else what!" Asked Meowth defiantly "Yous guys got nuttin' on us."

"Yeah." Agreed Jessie and James

"Ariados, Disable" Ordered Tai. The long leg pokemon's eyes began to glow and a yellow aura surrounded the Rockets "Now, do you accept?"

"We've been through worse." Said Meowth

"Meowth what are you doing!" Yelled Jessie

"QUIET HUMAN!" Yelled Meowth in a strangely distorted voice "What the hell?" He asked back in his normal voice.

"Well since your freaky, demonic cat-thing declined…" Said Tai "Ariados Signal Beam!" Ariados opened its mandibles and gathered a green energy beam between them. He launched the beam at the paralyzed Rockets and sent them flying once again into the horizon.

"Looks like we're blasting off again!" Cried Jessie and James

"SPILL THE BLOOD OF THE INOCENT!" Shouted Meowth in a demonic voice again. "Why do I keep doing that?"

…

Just outside of the forest Ash and Misty, now masquerading as Aquaria again, approached the woods with the pokemon. Electra and Pikachu were still riding on Ash's shoulders having an occasional conversation while Dawn and Mune walked behind them.

"You seem to be feeling a lot better." Said Ash to the female Pikachu

("My head still hurts some and I can't remember anything about myself.") She said ("But other then that I feel fine.")

"Well if it hurts to think then don't." Said Ash

"Bad idea." Said Misty "If you do that you'll end up just like Ash here."

"Hey!" Protested Ash "I am not _that_ dumb."

"Oh so you admit that you _are_ dumb though." Teased Misty

"I give up." Said Ash "I'm only going to dig myself deeper if I keep talking."

("Wow you actually made a smart decision for once.") Marveled Pikachu

"Don't worry about it Ash." Said Misty "We all can't be geniuses. I love you just the way you are. Missing brain cells and everything." She pecked him on the cheek but the expression on his face was still sour.

"I am not as dense as everyone thinks I am." Said Ash "I'll prove it." He looked at the map in his hands, which after a year of being on his own he'd finally learned to hold right, and found that if they cut through the forest they'd reach Mahogany town in half the time. "If we cut through this forest we can get there in a day instead of two."

"I am not going in there." Said Misty

"Why not?" Asked Ash

"Forests are full of bugs Ash." She pointed out "I HATE bugs!"

"Oh come on." Said Ash "You've been around a lot of bugs, I even have Heracross with me and you aren't scared of him."

"I didn't say I was scared." Said Misty "I said I HATE BUGS!"

"Hey no need to yell." Said Ash "I'm sure there aren't to many bugs in that forest and besides you've gone through plenty of forests and they all had bugs in them too."

She couldn't counter that argument. She had gone through a lot of forests but for some reason she got a bad feeling about this one.

("Why'd we stop?") Asked Mune who had finally caught up with the group.

"We're trying to decide weather or not to take a short cut." Explained Ash

("So what's the problem?") Asked Mune ("If its shorter I'm all for it.")

(I don't see why not either.") Said Dawn ("It's not exactly pleasant out here.") She was referring to the fact that a mist seemed to be in the air and it was a bit on the chilly side. Even though she had fur all over it was still uncomfortable.

("I don't care either way.") Said Pikachu. He actually wanted to go the long way so that he could get to know Electra better. They still planned to leave her at the Pokemon Center so that she could be looked at properly.

"Looks like majority rules Mist." Said Ash "Don't worry I have Quilava so if any bugs do come near us he can take care of them."

"Fine." Said Misty. She still had a bad feeling about doing this, but couldn't figure out why.

They turned off the path and headed into the forest. They would soon learn that it would have been far more productive to have stayed on the path.

…

"The nerve of that moron!" Screamed Jessie "He can't treat the notorious Team Rocket like this!"

"Well it looks like he did." Said James

"Quiet you!" Snapped Jessie as she pounded James on top of the head with her fist. "We're going to get revenge on all those wannabe trainers."

"How we gonna do dat Jessie?" Asked Meowth "TERROR, PAIN, DESTRUCTION!" He burst out. "I think that guy was in my head too long."

"Well he did seem to radiate pure evil." Said James still rubbing the lump on his head. "His evilness probably saturated into your body and makes you say evil things."

"As long as I don't get possessed again I think I can live wit' it." Said Meowth "BABIES TASTE LIKE SWEET NECTAR!" He said demonically "As long as it doesn't happen in public anyway.

They suddenly heard some voices coming from behind some trees. There were three of them and they seemed to be arguing about something.

"When did that punk get a Lugia?" Asked one, a gruff male voice.

"I don't know homes." Said a Latino male voice. "I thought he had an Entei like the memo said. And who was that chick with him anyway?"

"That wasn't the same punk we fought in Mahogany Town." Said yet another male voice, this one was deep and seemed to command some kind of authority. "They're similar, but that Pikachu of his didn't have a stupid nick name and thinking back he did look a little different."

"Pikachu?" Asked the Rockets together

"So what are we gonna do about him?" Asked the gruff voiced man.

"Well, I was studying the tactics of those Elite Rockets again…" Began the deep voice. "They had a motto that was different from ours, but based on the footage I saw their motto always caused people to run or hang their head in fear." What he didn't know was that the footage he'd seen was from an early attempt from Jessie, James and Meowth to steal some pokemon from a pokemon center in Celadon. The reason why the people ran or slumped to the ground was because that particular day Team Rocket had been going around saying that motto HUNDREDS of times. By the time they got to the Pokemon Center the people couldn't stand to hear it anymore.

"How'd the motto go anyway?" Asked the Latino voice.

"I think it went…" Began the deep voice.

"Prepare for Trouble." Said Jessie as she jumped out of their hiding place.

"Make it Double." Said James jumping out to join his partner.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight, fight."

"Meowth dat's-," Started Meowth jumping in front of Jessie and James "MURDER IS THE FUEL THAT DRIVES ME!" He then continued as if that hadn't happened "-right!"

"Yeah it went like that." Said the deep voice. They could see it belonged to a younger member of Team Rocket. He sported brown hair and blue eyes and wore a normal grunts uniform.

"Hey you guys are Elite Rockets." Said the Latino spotting the white uniforms.

"You could say that…" Said James. In truth they'd lost their rank long ago and were now the lowest ranking members of the entire organization.

"Did we overhear you correctly?" Asked Jessie "You're looking for a punk with a Pikachu?"

"That's right." Said the brown-haired man. "Actually we've run into two of them and they both have legendary pokemon."

"Really…" Said Jessie "Which ones?"

"The first one we fought has an Entei." Said the gruff voice. It belonged to a taller man with blonde hair and brown eyes. "The one we fought yesterday has a Lugia, although its smaller than I thought it was supposed to be."

_Silver._ Thought Meowth _They must have run into Ash yesterday. So that means that he's alright and so are Dawn and Mune. _He felt relief wash over him now that he knew his friends were alright. **_They are not your friends, they are your enemies_. **Countered a darker thought **_They must pay for abandoning you in Sootopolis and letting you get possessed by that monster._ **Meowth was slowly starting to be convinced by his now magnified dark-side. _Yeah I gotta make 'em pay!_ "I gots a plan guys." He said and turned to his teammates "We're gonna show you rookies how its done."

…

They hadn't even been walking for five minutes before a bush suddenly turned into a short boy with closely cut hair wearing a dark blue uniform and holding out two pokeballs came bounding over to them. "I am Ninja Boy Chris!" He shouted "I challenge you to a 2-on-2 pokemon battle!" He pointed to Ash

"I'm in a hurry kid." Said Ash "I don't really have time for games."

The boy ignored him and released a Hitmontop. "You will battle." Said Chris "That's the rules in Trainer's Forest."

"Trainer's Forest?" Asked Ash confused

"No more questions." Said Chris "Release your pokemon!"

"No." Said Ash "I don't feel like battling right now."

"Stop being so stubborn and just cream the little punk so we can go." Said Misty exasperated

"If you say so." Said Ash "Mune, you feel like a battle?"

("Sure.") Said the Espeon ("I'll take that freaky-looking mutated top down!")

("What did you call me?") Asked the Hitmontop.

("You heard me.") Said Mune

"Let the battle begin!" Said Chris "Hitmontop Rapid Spin and Triple Kick!"

"Mune just blast it with a Psychic and let's go." Said Ash wanting to get this battle over with.

Mune complied and caught Hitmontop with a Psychic attack, He picked the spinning pokemon up and slammed it repeatedly into a nearby tree until it was knocked out.

"Hitmontop!" Cried Chris "You'll pay for that. Hitmontop Return!" A red beam of light caught the dazed Hitmontop and recalled him to his ball. "Go Meditite!" A small pokemon which a blue body and grayish-brown head appeared from the pokeball. It had its head lowered and its feet were hovering off the ground pressed together. Its hands were also pressed together as if it were preying.

"What is that!" Asked Misty. She'd never seen a Meditite before so had no idea what to expect.

"All I know is that it's a fighting/psychic type." Said Ash "That means Mune still has an advantage."

"We'll see about that." Said Chris "Meditite use Meditate."

"Mune use Calm Mind." Said Ash

The two pokemon began to concentrate and both were surrounded by auras due to their increasing power. Mune stopped first and without being told he used a Confusion attack in an attempt to catch the Meditite off guard. The mediate pokemon didn't flinch however, and countered with his own Confusion. A battle of the minds ensued. Mune pushed with all his mental might trying to reverse the momentum of the attack. Meditite was doing the same thing and both pokemon were at a stalemate.

"Mune forget the Confusion and just use a Quick Attack to finish him off." Said Ash

"Meditite use Reflect fast!" Countered Chris

That was exactly what Ash wanted him to do. Meditite weren't good at concentrating on two things at once, so before Mune even broke the Confusion attack Meditite started to form a reflect. Since Mune was still pushing with his attack Meditite was hit with the force of two Confusion attacks and was sent flying into its trainer.

Chris shakily got to his feet and returned Meditite. "Man." He whined "Now I owe you all my money."

"I thought it was only half your money when you loose a battle." Said Misty

"Trainer's Forest rules." Said Chris "All participants in battles have to give away ALL their money."

"Who makes these rules?" Asked Ash "And what happens if a trainer refuses to pay all his money."

"The enforcers come out and make them." Said Chris "And you DON'T want to get on their bad side."

"They can't be worse than some other people I'm on the bad side of." Said Ash "What's the fastest way out of here anyway?"

"If you're going to Mahogany Town, and based on what I heard while I was spying on you, you are." Said Chris "Then go northwest from here. Watch out though because there are a lot of trainers that way."

"I think we can handle it." Said Ash

"Before I forget…" Said Chris. He walked over to Ash and handed him a huge wad of money. "That's your winnings from the battle. Enjoy it though because by the time you get out of here you're going to be broke." He threw something on the ground and in a flash of smoke he was gone.

"Well, that was weird." Said Ash "Hey Pikachu you think you're ready for some battles?" He waited for an answer. "Pikachu." Ash looked around and spotted the mouse talking to Electra in private. He walked over and caught the tail end of the conversation.

("…and then the idiot comes into the Gym dressed up like some girl.") Said Pikachu ("I knew it was him right off because he still didn't want to put on any of the perfume so he smelled the same. The fact that he called himself Ashley was a big giveaway too.")

"Pikachu!" Yelled Ash "You said you'd never mention that again!"

("Ash!") Said Pikachu jumping in surprise. ("I was just making conversation.") He said sheepishly

("Did you really dress up like a girl?") Asked Electra ("Just to get a Gym Badge?")

By this time everyone in the group had come over and heard the question. "Yeah, Ashley here was desperate." Joked Misty, much to Ash's distaste. "He didn't even beat Erika to get the Rainbow Badge."

"I was gonna win." Said Ash lamely "Charmander was on a roll. If Team Rocket hadn't interfered, like they did in almost all my Gym Battles, I would have one fair and square."

("So how did you get the Badge then?") Asked Dawn

"I saved her Gloom from the fire." Said Ash "She said I was going to win anyway and that since I saved her Gloom I deserved the badge."

("You must really care about pokemon if you risked your life to save one that wasn't even yours.") Said Electra

("He's done it a bunch of times.") Said Pikachu ("He saved me on our first day together from a flock a Spearow.")

"Even though he's the one that provoked the whole flock." Added Misty

"If someone hadn't been such an ass and shocked the Pidgey I wanted to catch." Said Ash "I would have never thrown the rock at the Spearow."

("Don't try to shift the blame to me.") Said Pikachu ("I told you it was a Spearow and you did it anyway. It's not my fault you couldn't understand me then.")

"Okay enough of bringing up my past." Said Ash "Let's just get out of this weird forest."

…

"So you got beaten?" Asked Tai to the Ninja Boy who had just made a report.

"Yes that trainer has some pretty strong pokemon." Said Chris "He doesn't want to battle so I told him the usual story about the enforcers."

"Good." Said Tai "Did you send him toward the strong trainers?" He asked

"Yep." Answered Chris "He's headed toward the Hikers and Bug Catchers and after that he should run into the double battle area."

"Good, once he goes through all those trainers I don't think any of his pokemon will stand a chance against me." Said Tai "I'm gonna make a ton of money off this guy!"

…

After walking about another fifteen minutes A guy with a big back pack and a new came running out of nowhere. "I'm Bug Maniac Ken and I challenge you to a 3-on-3 battle!" He shouted

"Bug Maniac!" Asked Misty queasily.

"That's right bugs." Said Ken "Since you don't like bugs I think I'll challenge you."

"I'll beat you and your creepy bugs." Said Misty, Ever since she rejoined Ash and reconciled with him her confidence seemed to have returned. "Go Gyarados!"

"G-Gyarados?" Stuttered Ken

Gyarados came out of his Great Ball and roared at the petrified bug trainer. Ken nervously reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball. "Go Sirskit!"

The tiny water-bug came out of its ball and looked at the towering form of Gyarados. Instinctively Gyarados used Glare and the small bug was paralyzed with fear, and so was its trainer.

"S-sirskit use water gun." He stuttered

"Gyarados Aerial Ace!" Ordered Misty.

Gyarados simply flew into the air a foot or so and then sent itself flying into Sirskit. The little bug didn't stand a chance and was instantly knocked out.

"Look I give up, just take the money!" Said Ken once he recalled Sirskit. He threw a nice wad of money at Misty and she caught it. Then he took off running, desperate to get far away from the scary Gyarados.

("What's his problem?") Asked Gyarados

("You scared the shit out of him.") Said Pikachu

"Hey watch your mouth Pikachu." Said Ash

("I was being literal.") Said Pikachu ("Look.") He pointed to a series of small brown lumps that were spaced out in the direction Ken had gone.

"I think we should not go that way." Said Ash "Watch your step anyway. Don't want to get that stuck to your shoe, or paws."

…

"Wouldn't now be the perfect time to attack?" Asked Mitch

"No, wait until their weak." Said Jessie "Once they've gone through all the battles in the forest then we attack."

"This is a brilliant plan Meowth." Said James

"LET FEAR CONSUME YOUR SOUL" Said demonic Meowth "Yeah I know" He said normally.

"You know that really freaks me out man." Whimpered Carlos "Anyone got any holy water?"

"Won't work." Said Reece "He's not possessed from what I gather, he's just been seeded with evil."

"It's still freaky." Said Carlos

…

The group continued walking and about every ten or so minutes they would run into a battle. There were all kinds of trainers, Psychics, Black Belts, a few Hikers and even a Cool Trainer of two. Mostly however they ran into Mediums and Bug Catchers. Ash and Misty took turns battling and soon most of their pokemon were tired. For some reason Ash couldn't transfer any pokemon so he was stuck with the party he'd left Ecruteak with. This party being formed by Pikachu, Swellow, Heracross, Quilava, Onix and Silver. Thankfully the poke'dex didn't count Dawn and Mune as being in the party since Ash didn't have pokeballs for them. They were registered as belonging to him, but not registered for League Battles.

"How long does this forest go on?" Moaned Misty

"I think we're almost out." Said Ash

Suddenly the roaring of a motorcycle could be heard and out of nowhere came a guy on a motor bike wearing the typical clothing of a biker. "I challenge you to a 2-on-2 battle." He said "I'm Josh and you're my next victim."

Before they could even protest a girl dressed in a red ninja uniform jumped down form a tree. "This one is mine." She said "I Sonya challenge you to a 2-on-2 battle."

Ignoring the fact that a battle had already been declared Sonya through out a pokeball revealing a Machoke. Now ignoring the fact that a pokemon had already been released Josh also released an Electabuzz.

"What now?" Asked Ash

"Well they both want to battle so we give them one." Said Misty

"Go Onix!" Called Ash as he threw the Ultra Ball containing the fearsome rock-serpent.

"Go-," Started Misty, Unfortunately for her Psyduck came out instead of Staryu who she had been planning to call. "Psyduck what have I told you about coming out of your ball?"

("Huh?") Asked Psyduck in his usual oblivious manner.

Before she could amend her choice the battle began. "Electabuzz use Thunder Punch on that duck!" Ordered Josh

"Machoke use Low Kick on the Onix!" Ordered Sonya.

"Onix go underground!" Ordered Ash

("No.") Said Onix

"What?" Asked Ash

("You'll see.") Said Onix. Ash just shrugged and let the serpent do what he wanted.

"Psyduck…" Trailed Misty. She really didn't know what to tell the duck. Then she got a brain storm. "Hit your head against Onix."

("Okay.") Said Psyduck. He waddled over to Onix inadvertently dodging the Thunder Punch and hit his head against the rock pokemon. An intense pain went through the ducks head and his eyes started to glow blue. Meanwhile Machoke went into a baseball slide and was about to deliver a devastating kick to Onix's underbelly. Unfortunately for the superpower pokemon Onix simply brought his full weight, which was about 1000 pounds since he was much larger than a normal Onix, and crushed him with a powerful Body Slam.

"Machoke return." Said Sonya "Go Poliwrath!" Her Poliwrath came out of its pokeball and looked around threateningly.

"Electabuzz, hit that damn duck!" Called Josh

"Psyduck Confusion!" Ordered Misty. In the duck's state of pain Misty knew he'd be able to do the attack. She was right because Psyduck channeled his latent psychic energies and hit Electabuzz with the attack. The electric pokemon wobbled on its feet for a minute before trying to hit Psyduck again with a Thunder Punch. However, what he thought was Psyduck was actually Poliwrath. The tadpole pokemon dodged the attack and smacked Electabuzz with a Double Slap combo. Electabuzz was taken out of the battle after the punishment it had received.

"Go Koffing!" Called the biker. A gaseous blob with a skull and crossbones below its mouth came out of the ball. It was purple and emitted yellow and green vapor. "Sludge Bomb that duck!"

"Poliwrath Hydro Pump!" Called Sonya.

"Onix you might want to dig now." Said Ash

("I can take a little-,") He was knocked out when the powerful water blast slammed into him he teetered on the spot for a moment and started falling towards Ash. Ash quickly returned him to his pokeball before he was crushed under the serpent's immense weight. "Pikachu you're up." Said Ash

("…but not an ordinary Pikachu.") Said Pikachu still flirting with Electra ("My Thunder Attack can take down a hundred Charizard in one use.")

("Your attack isn't that strong.") Said Electra unimpressed

"Pikachu I said get over here!" Yelled Ash

("Huh?") Asked the mouse who had once again been oblivious to the battle. ("Oh, coming Ash!") He bounded over and landed beside the frantic Psyduck who was trying to avoid the Sludge Bombs. ("I'll prove it!") He called to Electra. ("Ash let me do this one on my own.") He told his trainer.

"If you say so Pikachu." Said Ash "But if you loose this battle you also loose ALL my money and that means no more fancy ketchup with your poke'chow."

("I bet you can't win without using any electric attacks.") Called Electra. She wanted to see Pikachu put his money where his mouth was. He kept talking about how strong a pokemon he was and how much damage he could do, so she wanted him to prove it.

("You're on.") Said Pikachu

"Psyduck use Disable!" Said Misty when she saw Koffing tiring.

"Poliwrath use Ice Beam to freeze that little shrimp!" Called Sonya

Psyduck's eyes started to glow yellow and a yellow aura surrounded Koffing. Now the poison gas pokemon couldn't use his poison attacks so he resorted to physical moves. Meanwhile Pikachu barely dodged the Ice Beam and was trying to come up with a strategy. He thought back to his private training in Charicific Valley and came up with a move to use. He started to run around as if he were about to use Double Team and everyone thought that's what he was doing. His image split into two and instead of continuing to divide it stopped there. The two Pikahcus ran toward Poliwrath. One was using Quick attack and the Other was using Agility. The first Pikachu slammed into Poliwrath hard and the tadpole pokemon was knocked of its feet. That Pikachu faded away and the other one leapt into the air and came down with a devastating Iron Tail which smacked Poliwrath right between the eyes. The pokemon could take no more and collapsed on the spot.

"Poliwhirl!" Cried Sonya "Return." She said dejectedly. "If you loose we both have to pay these losers all our cash."

"I got it." Said Josh. "Koffing use Explosion!"

"You idiot!" Yelled Sonya "Even if you knock both of them out you still loose because he's your last pokemon!"

"Oops." He said

Pikachu tried to move out of the way but the blast hit him and the poison gasses it released got into his system. Psyduck on the other hand just stood there. His headache had ended shortly after using Disable and now he was literally a sitting duck. The blast hit him as well and sent him hurling into a tree, head first. Misty tried to run and catch her pokemon but she wasn't fast enough. The force of the impact caused the tree to split and Psyduck continued flying through the air. The two defeated trainers handed over their money to Ash and walked off. Meanwhile Misty and the others chased after Psyduck. The duck finally came to stop when he hit the ground in front of a particularly thick pine tree. Misty ran over to him and picked him up. He was holding his head and moaning obviously in great pain.

"Psyduck are you okay?" She asked concerned.

("Ohhh.") He moaned. This headache was so bad he couldn't even string a sentence together, not that he could normally anyway.

"Take a rest in your ball." Said Misty. She was about to return her pokemon when a group of bug catchers suddenly descended out of the tree tops on what looked like spider webs. What really bothered Misty though were the Spinarak and the single Ariados who accompanied the trainers. The Spinarak slowly advanced on Misty and she couldn't help but let out a scream.

Ash, who had scooped up the downed Pikachu, heard the scream and ran as fast as he could to see what was wrong with Misty. He arrived to see her surrounded by bug pokemon and it didn't take him long to figure out what was wrong. "Hey leave her alone1" He called to the trainers. One of them, who was wearing all orange and had greenish-blonde hair turned around to see Ash.

"You're the one whose been beating all the trainers today." Said the trainer. "I'm Tai and you and/or your girlfriend here is going to battle me."

"Hey man all my pokemon are tired from battling today." Said Ash "The sun is setting and I really want to get out of here." His only pokemon that wasn't tired was Silver and he was on reserve for emergencies. Mune had battled himself tired and Ash wasn't about to try and force Dawn or Electra to battle. Misty was in the same boat with only Suicune at her disposal.

"Either battle of forfeit." Said Tai "A wimpy trainer like you doesn't stand a chance against me anyway."

"That's it." Said Ash "I was trying to be nice and not pound you into the ground, but you leave me no choice." He pulled out Silver's pokeball and tossed it into the air. "Silver let's go!"

From their hiding spot Team Rocket looked on in awe. All were surprised, except for Meowth who'd seen the Lugia several times.

"He really does have a Lugia." Said James

"Let's let that trainer wear it down and then we make our move." Said Jessie

Ash stood ready and waiting for Tai to choose his first pokemon. "Ariados, Go!" The long leg pokemon hopped from the crowd of Spinarak and jumped in front of his trainer. "This is a 1-on-1 match. The prize is all my money against all yours." He pulled out a wallet that was bulging with bills. "I got about ten of these full of cash. If you win, which you won't, you'll get all of them, but if I win I get all your money." He then looked around and started checking out Misty "And her."

"What?" Yelled Ash

"I am not an object!" Yelled Misty

"Oh you will come." Said Tai "And I mean that however you want to interpret it."

"I'm going to pretend like you didn't just say that." Said Ash "Silver use Psychic!"

"Ariados Shadow Ball!" Called Tai

Ariados started to form a ball of dark energy between its mandibles while Silver began concentrating on his Psychic attack. Ariados released the Shadow Ball just as Silver fired his Psychic attack. He now had control over Ariados' movement, but the advantage didn't last long because the Shadow Ball slammed into him. He lost his concentration and Ariados was free.

"Toxic!" Ordered Tai.

"Silver Safe Guard!" Countered Ash.

Silver barely managed to put up the Safe Guard before the poison rained down on him. After concentrating hard he managed to withstand the attack and he got back into the air.

"Silver try to use an Aero Blast!" Said Ash

"_I can't" _Said the Lugia _"My father never showed me how to do it properly."_

"Just try." Said Ash

"_I'll give it a shot…"_ Said Silver. He opened his moth and tried to mimic what he'd seen his mother and father do on so many occasions. He gathered the air from his surrounding s into his moth and instinctively charged it with his energy.

"Poison it before it hits you!" Ordered Tai.

Ariados opted to use a Sludge Bomb and spat it at Silver. The bomb hit just as the Lugia released his Aero Blast. Ariados couldn't move out of the way in time and was utterly defeated by the powerful flying-type attack. He was left in a crater in front of the large pine and his trainer was fuming. Silver on the other hand was still flying, but it was clear to all that he was poisoned.

"You useless beast!" Shouted Tai to the fallen Ariados. "I don't know why I even bothered with a weak pokemon like you. You couldn't even beat a legendary pokemon!" He walked over to Ariados and kicked it hard.

"Hey leave it alone!" Shouted Misty. "It tried its best and it lost, so don't get mad at it!"

"Don't tell me how to train my pokemon." Said Tai "Take your money and get the hell out of my forest." He said tossing his overstuffed wallet to Ash

"I thought you said there were ten of these." Said Ash

"I lied." Said Tai. He kicked Ariados again and was about took out its pokeball. "When I get you back to the hideout your in real trouble." He promised the spider. Ariados just whimpered in fear of its trainer unable to defend itself in its weakened state. Before Tai could return it though there was a loud explosion and smoke filled the clearing.

"Prepare for trouble, it's been a long time." Said an all too familiar voice.

"Better make it double, 'cause here comes the rhyme." Said another all too familiar voice

"Oh god no." Moaned Ash "Why now? After all this time, why now?"

_Their still following him?_ Thought Misty

"How many times do we have to tell you DO NOT interrupt the motto!" Yelled James

"Now where were we." Said Jessie "Oh yes, To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

_Kill me now please_ Thought Ash

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach, blah, blah, blah." Said Ash "I already have nightmares about this damn motto so bring out whatever crazy contraption you have to try and steal my pokemon and be done with it."

They continued as if he hadn't said anything'

"To extend our reach to the stars above"

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight, fight."

"Meowth dat's-," Started Meowth "KILLING AROUSES ME!" "-Right"

"That was different." Said Ash nervously "I see you made it out of Sootopolis Meowth."

("Hey Meowth long time no see.") Said Dawn ("I missed you.")

"Hey kid I-" "WANT TO DEVOUR YOUR SOUL" "Missed you too."

Dawn backed away slowly afraid of the demonic cat.

"Hand over Pikachu and Lugia and no one gets hurt." Said Jessie

"How many times are you going to demand me to do something?" Asked Ash "I would think by now you'd know that I'm always going to say no and that you should just get on with it." He hadn't been through this in a long time, but it still annoyed him to no end.

"Alright twerp we'll do this your way." Said Jessie "Meowth bring out our new toy."

The Rockets had used Mitch's account at the Mach dealer to get a state of the art super robot. The ground shook and soon a very large robot shaped like a very large Kabutops stomped up behind the Rockets.

"Say hello to the Futuristic, Ultimate, Cybernetic, Kabutotron, Millennium Edition." Said James. "Or F.U.C.K ME for short."

"You've got to be kidding me." Said Ash trying to hold back his laughter. "You guys have come up with some stupid names before, but this is just too much."

"What's wrong with our name!" Asked James indignantly

"If you can't see it I'm not going to tell you." Said Ash. In truth he was a bit worried. Silver was too weak to fight, so he recalled him. And all his other pokemon were too weak as well thanks to the trainers in the forest. Misty only had Suicune, and if she released it in front of Team Rocket she was putting herself and possibly her sisters at risk. Pikachu was still knocked out from the combination of poison gas and the explosion, so he was no use. The only pokemon out were Psyduck, who was still groaning in pain, Mune, who looked about ready to drop, Dawn and Electra. Ariados was also still on the ground and it seemed that his trainer and the bug catchers ran when they saw the F.U.C.K ME.

It was starting to get dark and Ash was having trouble making out where the other trainers had run off to. He didn't have much of a choice in battling Team Rocket so he looked over to Misty.

"Ash I can't." She said "If I do you know what will happen."

"They don't know it's you." He whispered "You don't look like you used to. Plus if you're traveling with me you're going to run into them anyway."

"Hey twerp this isn't the time to flirt with your new girlfriend." Teased Jessie over the robots loud speaker. "He'll end up dumping you like he did that scrawny red-head and that annoying brown-haired girl."

"Maybe your right Ash." Said Misty trying to keep her anger in check from Jessie's insults.

Jessie mistook the look of anger to be at Ash and decided to continue poking at her. "Yes he's had many, many girls haven't you twerp? I guess you got tired of that obnoxious loud bitchy girl that followed you around for all those years. You went on a rampage after she left. Didn't even last a week before you started seeing someone else, and someone else, and yet someone else." The Rockets laughed evilly, well as evilly as they can anyway, and it echoed throughout the darkening forest.

"THAT'S IT I HAVE ENOUGH OF YOU!" Shouted Misty "Suicune Go!" She yelled.

The aurora pokemon came out of his ball and glared at the machine threatening his trainer. He wasted no time in firing an Aurora Beam at the mech. The Rockets were surprised by Suicune's appearance but that didn't make them nervous. Thanks to Mitch's good credit with the Mech. Dealer they were able to afford waterproof, shock proof, psy-proof and even beam proof plating this time. They simply had the robot cross its blades in front of the beam and the reflector devices in the blades did the rest. Suicune wasn't prepared for his own attack to fire back at him and was struck dead on by the double powered attack.

"Hey look the twerps got a shiny Pikachu." Said James pointing to Electra "Those are rare and usually really strong."

"If we bring the boss that he'll even forgive Meowth's failures." Said Jessie

"Hey!" Said the cat. This time no demonic voices came out. "You're right." Meowth went off into one of his fantasies about being Top Cat and got rapped on the head by Jessie.

"Now is not the time." She said. "Activate the Pika-grabber."

"Yes Ma'am." Said Meowth happily. Even after traveling with Pikachu he still wanted to stick it to the electric-mouse.

A large hand came out of the chest of the robot and made its way toward Electra. This is what Pikachu blearily saw as he opened his eyes. He put all his strength into one burst of Agility and landed right in the hands path.

"Pikachu!" Cried Ash "What are you doing!"

The hand closed around Pikachu and he was unconscious once again. He was taken into the mech. And as always there was a glass case waiting for him. "We got Pikachu, We got Pikachu!" Sang the Rockets.

"Suicune use Hydro Pump!" Yelled Misty.

Suicune inhaled deeply before releasing a monstrous blast of water straight at the robot.

"Incoming." Said Meowth.

"I'm on it." Said James. He hit a button and the machine started to glow faintly. Suicune's attack was once again sent right back at him. This time he dodged it and sent an Ice Beam. The attack hit the robot and froze it solid, but not for long.

"Activating defrost." Said Jessie. The temperature of the robot's outer coating began to rise and soon they were once again mobile. "Ha, not even Suicune can touch us."

"We'll see about that." Said Misty "Suicune Earthquake!"

With an echoing cry of "Cune!" The aurora pokemon caused a tremendous tremor that traveled straight for the F.U.C.K ME.

"What about ground proof?" Asked James.

"We gots somtin' better." Said Meowth. He hit a few buttons and a control stick came out of his control panel. With one more press of a button the Kubutotron flew into the air. "It's a good thing I told you to pay for the flight model." Said Meowth. "BLOOD, GIVE ME BLOOD!" He blurted out.

"I thought you were past that." Said James

"I don't know." Said Meowth "It comes and goes."

Dawn watched the battle from behind Misty. She could see that Suicune wasn't dong well and she wanted to help. She wasn't sure what she could do but she had to try something. She ran out beneath the mech. And without knowing it started to use Hidden Power.

Electra saw Dawn below the robot and decided to give her a boost. She knew Helping Hand; as a matter of fact she knew every move even though she didn't know she did. Being such a powerful pokemon the Helping Hand boosted Dawn's power by about four times its normal. The Eevee began to glow a white color and she jumped into the air charging full speed at the giant robot. She smashed straight through the engine and came out the other side. She landed softly on the ground and turned around to see what she'd done. The robot went streaming toward the ground and was heading straight for the crater where Ariados still lay.

"Suicune move Ariados!" Called Misty. Suicune quickly grabbed the spider from the crater and brought it to safety the robot landed and the fuel cells began to leak. Thanks to the fire from the destroyed engine there was a massive explosion. Predictably the Rockets went sailing into the horizon.

"Looks like you got your wish Jimmy-boy." Said Meowth dryly

"What wish?" Asked James

"We all just got fucked." Said the cat.

"And you know what else?" Asked Jessie

"We're blasting off again!"

"Wait we still got Pikachu." Said Meowth holding up a glass case with the sleeping electric mouse inside. James happened to sneeze which caused an involuntary muscle spasm, which made his hand sway just enough to knock the case away form Meowth. "You Idiot!" Yelled Meowth "I LAY A CURSE UPON YOUR SOUL!"

Ash caught the falling case and immediately released Pikachu. Through it all he continued to sleep and was oblivious to everything. Ash set Pikachu down gently and went over to the panting Eevee. He picked her up and hugged her. "You saved us all Dawn." He said

("I did?") She asked

"Yeah whatever attack that was took them out."

("I don't know what I did.") She said ("One minute I was hiding and then I just couldn't watch anymore. I'm glad I helped though.") She started to glow white again and Ash put her down. Slowly she began to evolve. Once the glow was gone a black fox-like creature with yellow rings around parts of its fur stood where an Eevee had moments ago. Dawn was now an Umbreon.

"Hey you evolved." Said Ash

("Looks that way.") She said ("I thought this would take a little longer to happen, I wish it had been during the day though.")

"You wanted to be an Espeon?" Asked Ash

She looked over at Mune, who was examining Ariados' limp form. He kept prodding the spider to see if it was alive. ("Maybe not.") She said ("I don't want to be anything like that idiot.")

"Ash do you have an empty pokeball?" Asked Misty

"For what?" Asked Ash

"Well…" She said "You should catch Ariados and take it to a Pokemon Center."

"Since when do you care about bugs?" Said Ash teasingly "And how can I catch it if it's already got a trainer?"

"Well I saw Tai drop Ariados' pokeball when he left and that robot stepped on it." She said "And even though it's a bug, it doesn't deserve what that jerk did to it."

"Well if I already have enough pokemon." Said Ash "So you have to catch it." He tossed her a pokeball. He really did want the Ariados but he figured Misty could get over her fear of bugs if she caught one.

"Ash I don't think that's a good idea." She said frightfully.

"Sure it is." Said Ash "All you have to do is throw the ball. That thing's in no condition to resist and leaving it here means it's most likely going to die."

She sighed "Fine," She gave Psyduck, who was still holding his head mournfully, to Ash and took the pokeball. "Pokeball go." She said in a monotone. The ball caught the long leg pokemon with no resistance and the capture ding sounded immediately. "I got an Ariados." She said again with no excitement.

"Ariados is a great pokemon." Said Ash "You should be proud to be its new trainer."

Misty picked up the pokeball and put it on her belt. "If you say so Ash." She said

Misty recalled Psyduck and looked at Suicune. "Can you give us a ride out of here?" She asked.

"_If I must._" Said Suicune. He wasn't found of people riding him, but in the state they were in he couldn't say no. Ash picked up Pikachu from his position and also picked up Mune before climbing onto Suicune's back. Misty grabbed Dawn and Electra and got behind Ash. With a flash of wind they were headed out of the forest.

"So that's how professionals do it huh?" Asked Reece

"They were beaten by an Eevee." Said Carlos

"That was not supposed to happen." Said Mitch "They had them and then that Eevee came out of nowhere."

"Should we try to find them so they can give you the money you're gonna owe those Mech. guys?" Asked Carlos

"Oh, shit." Said Mitch "At least we didn't leave empty handed." He said pulling out two photographs. "Now we can show the boss who has the other pokemon he wanted." One of the pictures was a direct shot of Ash's face and the other was a side view of Misty's. The trio left the forest and immediately contacted headquarters.

…

**A/N: Wow, before I added the review responses and Author's note this chapter was at 7,700+ words. If you ask me that's kind of long. A lot happened in this chapter and I hope nothing in it offended anyone. If it did well…too bad. I made this one extra long because I doubt I will be able to get 30 up before I head back to school. I just got HP6 today and I am going to be reading that too. Therefore I don't think anymore chapters are going to be up until maybe next weekend. I could be wrong though. **


	30. Enslaved Clones and Vengeful Aliens

**To the Reviewers and anyone reading this fic (I assume it is like over 100 based on the hit counter) Sorry about the wait. I got caught up doing other things but now I am doing this chapter . I don't feel the need for personal responses since there weren't really too many questions. However to Cdfe88 I wasn't even thinking about Austin Powers when I wrote that and the reference was lost on me until I remembered the Chinese girls . Also I wish you hadn't said that the ending to HP6 was sad. It kind of gave it away . **

Enslaved Clones and Vengeful Aliens

Giovanni stood on one side of his personal battle arena deep beneath the ground of Veridian City. It was time to test his newest Pokemon and he intended to put it through its paces. Standing opposite Giovanni were his most loyal agents, Domino, Butch, Cassidy and Creig. Even though the mission to the Dragon's Holy Land had been a disaster the successful attack on Lavender Town and the unexpected, but most welcome, capture of Mewtwo had the leader of Team Rocket in a very good mood. Raising the GS ball Giovanni released his most prized Pokemon onto the field.

"Mewtwo." Said Giovanni "Come and serve your master."

In a flash of purple light Mewtwo appeared from his pokeball. His eyes had an eerie red glow to them and a black aura of power surrounded him. On his head there was a helmet like device which kept his psychic powers in check. He'd only been confined in the ball a short time, but already it was clear that he was on his way to Genocide Syndrome.

The Rocket Agents recoiled in fear from the awesome power emanating from the Genetic Pokemon. Giovanni smirked at their reaction. He waited patiently for them to get over their fear and when they didn't move he fixed them with an angry glare. Seeing the boss' irritation the four agents each raised a Master Ball and released a pokemon. Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres came forth from their pokeballs and glared at Mewtwo. After being in the Master Balls for so long all emotions from the birds were gone save barely contained hate and rage.

"This will be a four-on-one battle." Said Giovanni "No time limit. I expect you to do everything in your power to defeat me." He paused to let his words sink in before shouting. "Begin!"

The Rockets didn't need to give their pokemon any orders. The intense training which Giovanni put them through gave them good battle instincts and they were able to fight much more effectively without being ordered. Still each pokemon had a receiver in their ear to get the commands from their trainers. Moltres was the first to attack. He flew as high as he could, which was about 50 feet thanks to the enclosed ceiling, and released a Fire Blast right at Mewtwo. The clone didn't even flinch and let the attack connect with him. Not wanting to be outdone Zapdos and Articuno used Thunder and Ice Beam respectively. Again Mewtwo allowed the attacks to hit him and they seem to have little effect. It was when Lugia prepared to fire an Aero Blast that Mewtwo finally acted. He released the pent up energy he'd been storing by using a Bide attack and slammed into the Diving Pokemon with all his might. The attack sent Lugia crashing into the wall where he made quite an impression on the 30-feet-thick titanium reinforced wall. Before the remaining birds could even attempt a counter Mewtwo had them all bound in a psychic grip and was slamming them into one another and the surrounding walls with gusto.

"Enough!" Said Giovanni. Mewtwo ignored him and continued to abuse the already battered birds. "I said enough!" Roared Giovanni again, this time holding up the GS ball and hitting a button hidden inside the cuff of his sleeve. The effect was immediate. Mewtwo stopped his assault on the pokemon and turned to face Giovanni waiting for new orders. "Return" Said Giovanni. Mewtwo returned to the GS Ball and the other agents returned their pokemon as well.

This battle had shown Giovanni several things. The first was something he already knew, Mewtwo was a very powerful pokemon, the second was that he needed to train his other pokemon more, then there was the fact that Mewtwo was already showing rebellion. It had taken too much effort to create the clone in the first place for it to escape once, but for it to happen again was out of the question. His first order of business was to test some stronger Slave Helmets to ensure absolute obedience from his newest weapon.

The boss started heading to his office when his cell phone started to ring. "Speak." He ordered.

"Boss this is field agent Mitch." Said the voice on the other line. "I'm sending you some info you should find very useful."

"And that would be?" Asked Giovanni skeptically. He decided not to comment on the euphemism of 'Field Agent' over the more common term of Grunt or his personal favorite cannon fodder.

"My team and I found out who has Suicune as well as another Lugia." Said Mitch "We also ran into some people who looked like Rocket Elites but…" He trailed off too embarrassed to mention Jessie and James.

"I see." Said Giovanni "I assume this information is now within the database?"

"Yes sir." Said Mitch

"Good, if it's worthwhile you may be getting a promotion." Said Giovanni.

"Thank you sir." Said Mitch. "I think I should mention that the guy who has the Lugia also has some rare pokemon that would be worth nabbing as well. He had a really strong Eevee that evolved into an Umbreon after the battle we witnessed. He also had a shiny Pikachu and a normal one. Both seem to have unusually high amounts of electrical energy."

_It can't be…_ thought Giovanni "Did this person have black hair, brown eyes and annoyingly confident attitude?" He asked.

"Yes sir he did." Said Mitch

_Ketchum_ "And you said a trainer was with him who has a Suicune?" He asked. Another grunt had said a Suicune was protecting a girl not too long ago but he had written it off as an overactive imagination combined with too much work.

"Yes" Answered Mitch "It was a girl about 17 with black hair and violet eyes. She seemed to be rather violent in battle and tended to have Water Pokemon. There are pictures of both of them and of the pokemon in the database now."

"Excellent." Said Giovanni "Keep an eye on them and keep me informed of their whereabouts.

"Yes sir." Said Mitch

Giovanni ended the call and continued heading to his office . He had several things to attend to and this new information was very interesting.

…

Brock sat in a corner in the mess hall contemplating his current situation. He was supposedly dead in the outside world and was now a member of an international crime rink. His family was being held somewhere and Mew only knew what kind of things where being done to them. He hoped that by his continual cooperation and acts of loyalty he was keeping them safe. He had no idea that Giovanni had already killed his parents for not cooperating and now had his younger siblings in the Rocket training corps. As far as he knew they were all 'safely' on the island prison where he was being held for the first part of his capture. Aside from his own personal problems was the guilt. He had done several things in the past few months that he thought he'd never do. Stealing, abduction, arson and murder. The heaviest death on his conscience was still Delia. He didn't know what he'd say to Ash if he ever saw him again. Since he didn't have much else to live for right now he decided to make the best of an otherwise bad situation. He trained his pokemon whenever he got the chance and still tried to give them the best nourishment he could. He had all his pokemon back with him, excluding Crobat, who had been mutilated beyond recognition at the hands of Domino, and he cared for them all deeply, even if he rarely showed it these days.

His musings were interrupted when someone sat down across from him. He looked up to see the purple eyes of Creig staring back at him.

"Hello Slate." Said Creig with false cheerfulness. There was no love loss between the two of them. Brock hated him for being the one who led the attack on the Gym and Creig hated Brock for constantly trying to show him up in front of the boss.

"What do _you_ want?" Asked Brock venomously.

"Orders." Said Creig shortly.

"What do you want me to do now?" Asked Brock exasperatedly He was just tired of constantly having to do what this idiot said.

"Don't sound so sad." Said Creig teasingly "I actually have a present for you. The boss thinks you've shown great loyalty, even though we both know you'd bolt out of here given half the chance, and he wanted me to give you this." He pulled a Heavy Ball off his belt and handed it to Brock. "That's Aerodactyl's pokeball. The boss knows your fond of Rock-Types and I think he wanted to replace that useless bat of yours."

Brock silently took the pokeball and put it on his belt. "Crobat was not useless." Hissed Brock. "That bitch Domino is going to pay for what she did to my pokemon."

"You'd better not let the boss hear you talk like that." Said Creig mockingly "He might question your loyalties. I'd hate to see what happens to all those siblings of yours if you decided to get rebellious."

Brock simply glared at Creig for a few minutes before getting up and heading toward the door. He ran into Fiona on the way out "The boss is looking for you Slate." She said before going to join Creig.

Brock made his way toward Giovanni's office with a bit of dread. Surely the boss hadn't heard what he had said to Creig. Then again knowing the kind of person Giovanni was he wouldn't put it past him to have some kind of monitoring device in every crevice of the base. Steeling himself for whatever he was going to face in the boss' office he made his way to the double oak doors.

…

Deoxys raced over the Ocean at top speed. He had a mission and he intended to complete it. He was already on his way to reclaiming his body and Kyogre had the information he needed. The body of Groudon held immense power and once it was combined with his psychic abilities he was sure Kyogre would not be able to stand up to him, even with his type advantage. He could see Orre in the distance and by using Groudon's innate senses he could tell Kyogre was at the heart of it. Not to mention the storm clouds which loomed overhead.

"Soon everyone on this pathetic planet will know my wrath." Said Deoxys to himself "I will finish what I started millennia ago and this time there will be no meddling Dragon-God to stop me." With thoughts of unwrought destruction he made his way toward the heart of Orre where Kyogre was busy making a new part of the ocean.

…

Todd walked through the streets of Goldenrod heading toward the Johto capital building. It was a difficult task to get out of Kanto and an even harder one to avoid all the Rocket patrols around Johto, but somehow he'd managed to do it. Now he was on his way to see his uncle, Gavin Towers, who just happened to be a very high-ranking officer in the Johto Armed Forces. He wasn't sure what his uncle could do to help him, but he was sure that getting these pictures to him was the best thing to do. He'd promised Gary to get them to someone who could help and that's what he intended to do.

He entered the Capital Building and went up to the receptionist's desk. "Hello my name is Todd Snap and I'm looking for General Towers." Said Todd

"I'm sorry sir, General Towers is not seeing any visitors." Said the receptionist.

"He'll see me." Said Todd "Tell him who it is and I'm sure there'll be no problem."

"The general left specific orders not to disturb him." Said the receptionist.

"Can you just call him and tell him who it is?" Asked Todd exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry sir, but I could loose my job if I disturb him without his permission." Said the receptionist

"Look lady I'm his nephew and I have some very important things I need to discuss with him!" Yelled Todd

"Sir there is no need to scream." Said the woman in a monotone. "I am not aware the General Towers had any family and you are not on the list of approved entry, if you want to see him make an appointment."

"Fine when is the next available opening." Fumed Todd.

"Let's see." Said the receptionist while typing. "Here we are. The next opening I have for the general is one year from now at 3:00 p.m."

"WHAT?" Roared Todd "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Sir please keep your voice down." Chided the woman "The general is very busy and can't be disturbed."

"I've had it." Said Todd He walked toward the elevators only to be stopped by a very angry looking Machoke. Thinking the better of trying to use the elevators he made a mad dash for the stairs. Unfortunately his uncle's office was on the 12th floor. It took him the better part of fifteen minutes to reach his uncle's office but he did finally make it. As soon as he put his hand on the door handle he was grabbed from behind by the same Machoke who had fallowed him from downstairs. Thinking quickly he made one last effort.

"Uncle Gavin I need to talk to you!" He yelled

The office door opened and a man wearing a blue uniform with a few metals on a patch over his heart stepped out. He had short neatly trimmed blonde hair and looked to be in his middle thirties. He had piercing blue-grey eyes and a neatly trimmed mustache which matched his hair.

"Todd?" He asked.

The Machoke stopped dragging Todd away and waited for orders from the general.

"Yeah it's me uncle." Said Todd

"I haven't seen you in ages." Said Towers. "Let him go Stanly he's fine." The Machoke released Todd and headed back downstairs. Gavin ushered his nephew into his office and shut the door. "What brings you by?"

"Business actually." Said Todd. He reached into his bag and withdrew a small photo album. "I think you'll find these pictures highly informative."

Towers took the booklet from Todd and looked through it. He saw pictures of mutilated pokemon in what appeared to be a lab of some kind. In several of the pictures the crest of the Veridian Gym could be seen and in others people in black uniforms with Team Rocket's trademark 'R' emblazoned in the center. Most shocking of all were the pokemon battle pictures. They showed Giovanni commanding pokemon that had most definitely been enhanced by using illegal drugs. A couple pictures really caught his interest. One was of a Lugia facing down a Mew and another was a Ditto and several other pokemon facing down the same Lugia.

"Where did you get these?" He asked. In awe.

"Me and a friend of mine named Gary Oak got into the Veridian Gym and I took these while he battled Giovanni." Answered Todd.

"Oak?" Asked Towers. "Isn't he that nutcase who burned down Pallet?"

"No." Said Todd "He didn't do it. The attack on Pallet was in retaliation for him and I getting these pictures. It happened the same night we got these."

"It all makes sense now." Said Towers. "I've got to get these to the president. Stay here and I'll be back in a while."

He hurried out of the room with the photographs in hand and went straight for the president's office. He'd had his suspicions about Giovanni Rokai now he had hard evidence to back those suspicions.

…

Brock entered Giovanni's immaculately decorated office and stood in the doorway staring at the back of the huge swiveling armchair. He waited a few moments and finally Giovanni spoke.

"Slate, punctual as always." He said in an eerily friendly voice. "I have some footage I want you to look at Slate."

"Footage sir?" Asked Brock confused.

"Yes, sit down." Commanded the boss.

Brock sat down and Giovanni slowly turned to face him. He had an evil gleam in his eyes that didn't make Brock feel anymore comfortable. He hit a button and a screen came down. The screen flared to life and something that was clearly a pokemon battle was raging on the screen. On a closer look it was pokemon fighting a giant robot. The robot looked like a giant Kabutops.

"What is this sir?" Asked Brock

"Watch and you'll see." Said the boss.

What was unmistakably a Lugia was battling the robot and it didn't seem to be faring very well. There was a flash of red light and then a Suicune was in the battle. The camera went to a different shot and a girl with black hair and purple eyes was holding the pokeball that the Suicune had come out of. She looked awfully familiar to Brock but he couldn't place the face with a name. For some reason he was reminded of Misty. The angle changed again to an Eevee who looked to be trying to take on the robot by itself. There was a glow and then all of a sudden the Eevee released a lot of energy directly to the fleeing robot. What Brock saw next shocked him. Jessie, James and Meowth were flying through the air and one of them had Pikachu. They dropped him and the camera fallowed the electric-mouse's progress to the awaiting arms of his trainer.

"Ash!" Cried Brock before he could stop himself.

"So it is Mr. Ketchum." Said Giovanni "I just needed confirmation. I don't suppose you know who the young lady is with him?"

"No sir." Said Brock. Inwardly he had a suspicion of who that girl was. She had been holding a Psyduck that looked suspiciously familiar. He wasn't about to mention that to Giovanni though.

"I see." Said Giovanni "Thank you Brock. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir, and thank you for the Aerodactyl." Said Brock bowing slightly.

"One moment Brock." Said Giovanni. "Out of all the Gym Leaders I've managed to 'hire' you've shown the most loyalty and potential. I know that you were friendly with Ketchum and that you've done your fair-share of stopping Team Rocket's plans. I am curious as to why you have shown such little resistance."

Brock was barely managing to control his anger and keep a neutral mask on his face. This bastard had the gall to question why he was being cooperative. What did he _think_ the reason was. His family was being held hostage and up until recently at least one of his pokemon. Not to mention his own life was on the line. Thinking quickly he came up with something to express those thoughts in as polite a manner as possible.

"I was under the impression that you would accept nothing less than total obedience from your…'employees'." Said Brock "I was told that if I did not cooperate my family and pokemon would suffer. I also realized that it would be much easier to cooperate and make the best of this situation."

"That is unfortunate Brock." Said Giovanni "I regret to inform you that your parents resisted when we went to recruit some of your brothers and sisters. One of the team members may have accidentally ordered his Rhydon to use Hyper Beam on them. I hope that this doesn't damage our relationship.

This was the last straw. He had submitted to them for too long. Gary's words from the attack on the Dragon's Holly Land rang through his head. _"…Gramps and May wouldn't want me to sell out to the likes of you,"_ Brock knew his parents wouldn't have wanted him to do any of the things he'd done. It was too bad it took them to die to realize that. Right now he had to think of a plan to get out. He couldn't get his siblings out now and they'd probably live since they were in the recruit program. For now he decided to keep up appearances until he got into a more private area were he could think. "I understand sir." Said Brock "You warned them the same as me, they suffered the consequence." It felt sickening saying it, but he knew he had to keep up the act.

"I am glad we are on the same page." Said Giovanni "I am sorry for this inconvenience but I hope you remember that loyalty is rewarded and betrayal is punished."

Brock nodded and left the office. He wasn't sure what he was going to do but he knew he was doing it soon. He past a set of heavily armored doors and he knew what was behind them. If he could bust Sabrina and her pokemon out he could escape much easier. He contemplated getting professor Oak out too. He knew Gary would never forgive himself if his grandpa or sister were hurt and Brock knew where the both were. He just hoped he wasn't calling Giovanni's bluff by attempting to escape.

…

Orre stretched out in all directions from the tip of Mt. Battle. The stadium below was deserted for once since the torrent of water coming down made it impossible to hold pokemon battles. And the constant mudslides were of no help either. Kyogre was pleased with his handy work. He was sure this would get Groudon's attention and this time He would finish the fight before that fool Rayquaza could use his powers to make them stop. And once Groudon was out of the way the world could be submerged in water and then…

Kyogre really wasn't sure what he would do after that. He hadn't really thought about it too much. So deluded was he by his own ambitions that he couldn't focus much on anything. Unlike Groudon, who had managed to open his eyes slightly thanks to Mewtwo, he couldn't sense the eminent danger that was heading straight for him. He had no idea that his former master was only a mile away and would be right next to him any second. He also had no idea that a Solar Beam was fully charged and steadily being made even more powerful thanks to Deoxys' psychic energies and Groudon's natural ability to have sunlight no mater how many clouds were in the sky.

This was unfortunate for the Sea Basin pokemon because Deoxys was now right behind him and he did not hesitate to release the devastating blast of concentrated sunlight right into the center of Kyogre's back. The water titan screamed in pain in rage as the attack seared away at the flesh between it's two fins. It crashed into the muddy slope below making the ground shake and sending an enormous spray of mud all over the place. Deoxys lowered himself in front of it's former servant and stared down at him with the eyes of it's ancient enemy.

"Where are the components to my body." He asked simply.

("Y-your dead.") Said Kyogre hysterically. He knew exactly who he was talking to and did not want to be talking to them.

"I assure you that that is only half true." Said Deoxys. "My body has been…disassembled, but my spirit is whole. Your friend Groudon found that out the hard way." He paused letting his words sink in. "Now I will ask you again. Where are the three components?'

("I don't know.") Said Kyogre. ("I swear I don't know.")

"That is unfortunate." Said Deoxys "Because now that I don't know where my old body parts are I have to make new ones." With a wave of his hand Kyogre floated into the air. The hole in it's back started to grow and bone and tendons could be heard cracking and ripping while Kyogre screamed in agony at the torture put on it's body. After several minutes of this process the only way the body could be recognized as once being Kyogre was because of the blue color. However Deoxys wasn't done crafting his new body yet. He gave Groudon just enough control to feel his body begin to change. Much in the same fashion as Kyogre's body a hole appeared at the base of Groudon's neck and his body slowly and painfully began to turn into a red and gray mass. The two masses of flesh bloated in the air and suddenly rammed into each other and began to merge together. White light began to radiate from the floating mass and it slowly turned into a humanoid form. It was very tall and had long legs and even longer arms. It was mostly red but had a blue face, hands and feet. Blue spikes also came out of its back and arms. The head was sunken in slightly so that it almost looked like it was wearing some kind of armor. Deoxys was reborn and he had only two things in mind. Kill Rayquaza and devastate the earth and not necessarily in that order.

…

**A/N: I would like to say I am sorry for the long wait for an update. I just got sidetracked with other things and it was hard to get back into writing this. I will do my best not to let that happen again and I will try to update again sometime over the Thanksgiving holiday. No promises but I may even update twice . Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Please be constructive as flames will be laughed at. Again I am sorry for the wait.**


	31. The Escape

**A/N: Well it is official NO MORE REVIEW RESPONSES ALLOWED. Thankfully they added the response links to signed reviews, so if you have a question and leave it in a review or a concern you'd like a response to, you should make sure you leave a signed review. I mean it only takes like a second to login don't be lazy.**

**WARNING! ANGST AND TRADGEDY AHEAD. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

The Escape

"I don't remember this place being so cold." Said Ash shivering. "It's like fifty below!"

"Will you stop whining?" Snapped Misty "We're almost to the Pokemon Center anyway."

Once the group reached Mahogany Town they decided to return Suicune to his pokeball and walk the rest of the way. Unfortunately for the weary group it was at the height of winter and very early in the morning. Trainers' Forest had delayed them almost an entire day.

From the edge of town it took them about an hour to reach to Pokemon Center while carrying quite a few battered pokemon who were too damaged to go back into their balls. Psyduck still had what appeared to be a concussion; Pikachu was utterly exhausted and most likely had some internal injuries from all the battling he did. Dawn and Mune were simply worn out as were all of Misty's pokemon save Suicune. Ash's Poke'dex was still on the fritz so he couldn't transfer any of his battle worn partners into storage for another.

Upon entering the center they rushed straight up to the counter. A very sleepy Nurse Joy greeted them in a monotone. "Welcome to Mahogany Town Pokemon Center will you…" She stopped when she noticed the state of the pokemon who were out of their balls. Seeing them immediately woke her up. "What in Ho-Oh did you do to them?" She exclaimed.

"Trainers' Forest." Said Ash simply "And we won all our battles. You'll probably get some more in here later. Team Rocket attacked us after we were forced to battle like 100 times and it took everything our Pokemon had to get rid of them."

"I see." Said Joy "Hand over your pokeballs." They did so and then she ushered some Blissy to take their severely injured pokemon to the Operation Room. "You'll have to wait here for a while. I'm going to do my best and that's all I can promise." At the sorrowful looks on the teenager's faces she added "I'm sure they'll be fine, but it will take some time." With that she left them to go back to the Operations Room.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Asked Misty holding back tears. She didn't like seeing her pokemon injured and she certainly didn't want a repeat of what happened to Starmie.

Ash pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "They'll be fine Mist." He said reassuringly "They've been through worse battles then that."

"But Psyduck…" She sobbed quietly into his chest "…Psyduck's never had a headache were he wasn't blasting Confusion attacks everywhere. And there was a really tender spot on his head. He smacked that tree so hard."

_A tender spot, that can't be good. _Thought Ash. Aloud he said "If anyone can survive head trauma I'm sure Psyduck can." As an afterthought he added "His head's almost as thick as mine."

The caused Misty to giggle a bit and Ash was glad he'd cheered her up slightly. In truth he was really worried about his pokemon as well. It was never good to have your pokemon battle constantly as they had done. The only positive that he could see from this situation was Misty catching Ariados and Dawn finally evolving. With a melancholy of thoughts Ash lead Misty over to on of the large couches and sat down on it. Within minutes they were both sleeping heavily Ash holding Misty tightly in his arms.

…

It was three days after Ash and Misty arrived in Mahogany Town that Giovanni decided to strike. He knew that they were at the Pokemon Center thanks to the grunts he had tailing them. Based on his information they were still recovering and only had a few pokemon between them. By his reasoning the only pokemon needed to decimate them at this time was Lugia. With that he got ready to make his strike. He didn't want any grunts to botch this up so he was giving this mission his personal touch. Once his Team was assembled they boarded a blimp and were on their way to Johto.

…

Giovanni had taken quite a few of the good trainers in Team Rocket on his mission. This left only a handful of competent trainers at the headquarters in Veridian. Creig and Fiona were off on a field assignment as were Bashou and Bason. This left only Domino and the Gym Leaders as the best trainers in the building. These were the thoughts of Brock Slate as he made his way down toward the Holding Cells. He found the one he was looking for and stared through the bars at the lone occupant.

"Professor." Brock whispered

Oak looked up and saw Brock standing on the other side of the cell door. "What is it now?" He asked in resignation. He knew Brock was now a loyal Rocket so he wasn't expecting any sympathy from him or any other person who came to the cell.

"Listen I know I've done some pretty awful things since you've been here…" Began Brock

"You killed twenty helpless BABY pokemon and didn't even blink." Said Oak. "Not to mention you helped them attack Pallet."

"I didn't have a choice!" Protested Brock

"There's always a choice young man." Said Oak "It is a matter of consequences which we don't like to face which make us say things like 'I had no choice' there is always a choice."

"They were going to kill them." Said Brock meekly.

"And I suppose they didn't?" Asked Oak

"They did." Said Brock "My Crobat and my parents, plus they now have all my siblings in some kind of training program."

"That's all very sad, but what are you doing here?" Asked Oak

"I know that nothing I do can make up for some of the things I've done, but I can't do this anymore." Said Brock "I'm getting out of here and I'm not leaving you here."

"Take Mae and leave me here." Said Oak

"What!" Asked an astonished Brock. "Professor I can't-"

"Yes you can." Said the older man "I'm an old man Brock I'll only slow you down. I'm too much of a bargaining chip if things get ugly for Giovanni for him to kill me. If Mae is gone then that's one less thing for him to Blackmail me with. Like you I've done some things I'm not proud of since I've been in here."

"Sir?" Asked Brock curious as to what the professor had done.

"When you get out of here head to Pallet." Said Oak "They destroyed the top half of the lab but they couldn't get into the subterranean levels. The code to the door is Smeargle Tail."

"Are you sure about this sir?" Asked Brock

"Yes I am." Said Oak without hesitation "Mae is two cells down from me. I think they've been giving her some kind of sedative that keeps her out but stops her from starving herself." He said bitterly "I don't want my granddaughter to continue to go through that."

"I understand professor." Said Brock

"If you see Ash and Gary tell them I'm alright and not to worry." Said Oak "Also let them know about the research you find in the lab. "I left a list of the passwords for the computer files in a filing cabinet. There is no key now so open it by any means necessary."

"I understand." Said Brock "Take care professor, I'll do my best to keep Mae safe."

Oak nodded and Brock went two cells down and saw a figure lying on the sheet metal cot at the back of the cell. Brock took out the keys and opened to door.   
The girl had long dark brown hair and looked to be about his age. He walked over to her and lifted her up. She was pretty light and he figured that had something to do with not eating for well over two weeks. He checked her pulse and found that it was there if a little weak. She was also breathing evenly. Putting her over his left shoulder he exited the room. Now all he needed to do was get Sabrina out. He figured the best way to do this was to do a full frontal assault. He made his way to the level with Sabrina's holding chamber on it. He saw about four guards who weren't looking his way and he lifted a pokeball from is belt.

He hit the release switch and his Graveler materialized. The guards still hadn't noticed anything so Brock leaned down and whispered into Graveler's ear. "Ram the door as hard as you can and use Explosion." The rock pokemon nodded and charged the door at full speed. The guards were startled when they saw pokemon using Rollout and heading straight for them. They didn't even have time to dodge as the pokemon started glowing white and then there was a massive explosion which blew a hole straight through the blast doors and killed the guards. Brock didn't even bat an eye at the carnage he'd caused. For once he felt justified in doing it. He ran through the smoke and into the hole that was in the doors. He saw Sabrina hanging against the far end of the room by her hands and feet with some kind of helmet on her head. There were four pokeballs on a shelf and without a second thought Brock grabbed them and then sent out Lombre. "Razor Leaf on those binds." He ordered. The top of the jolly pokemon's head started glowing and leaves shot out severing the binds on Sabrina's hands and feet. She seemed to be unconscious at the moment and Brock caught her as she fell. The helmet slipped off her head and was now dangling by chords and clanging against the wall. Now with two unconscious women on each shoulder Brock mad his way back through the hole. He heard a bunch of footsteps coming down the hall toward him and knew he'd been found out. He threw Onix's pokeball and the huge Rock serpent materialized in front of him. It was too big for the hall way and it's horn made a hole in the ceiling. "Onix we need to get out of here. Charge!" He ordered. Onix roared and started plowing down the hall. making it's own doors as it went. Brock knew that there were steel reinforced walls on the outside of the complex so he thought fast. "Onix Hyper Beam the ceiling."

The rock serpent did as he was told and launched a beam of yellow energy at the roof. It made a large hole and the serpent put it's head in the hole and started lifting itself through. It wrapped it's tail around Brock and hoisted him up behind it just as Domino came around the bend.

"Stop him!" She ordered.

Not wasting time with pokeballs the Rockets fired machine guns at the retreating pokemon. They didn't see Lombre behind them until it was too late. There guns were ripped to shreds by a well aimed Razor Leaf and the jolly pokemon jumped into the hole and headed after it's trainer.

…

Ash didn't know what to do. Nurse Joy had informed them that most of their pokemon were going to make full recoveries and only needed a few days rest. However, Psyduck, Pikachu and Ariados were in the worst shape. To make matters worse the nurse had also informed him that the PC was down so he couldn't transfer any pokemon from the pokemon center in Charicific Valley. Thus the only pokemon he had that were in fighting condition were Electra, Onix and Silver. Misty was in a little better shape with Gyarados and Suicune. The rest of their pokemon could battle if it was absolutely necessary but Joy made a point of making them stay back in the Examination Room so they wouldn't battle. This was extremely disappointing to Mune who kept insisting that he was fine and the constant throb in his head was nothing to worry about. Dawn on the other hand had been asleep since shortly after the battle with the F.U.C.K. ME. Ash still couldn't figure out how Team Rocket came up with such a ridiculous name.

Misty was in no better state of mind then her boyfriend. She had always been kind of hard on Psyduck and now was feeling quite guilty about it since he was hurt. Joy said his concussion was very severe and it would take over two weeks to heal properly. It was a delicate process because one wrong move and a loose bone could puncture the brain and cause permanent damage. Thankfully there were no bruises on the brain so the risk of an infection was not as serious. Then there was Ariados. As much as Misty hated bugs she still didn't want anything to happen to that pokemon. Joy said that it should heal completely in a week and that was two days ago. Therefore in another three or four days the pokemon should be in perfect health.

Another interesting thing that happened while they were at the center was when Joy had examined Electra. Ash explained how they'd found her being attacked by a pack of Houndour and a Houndoom and Joy looked her over and said her injuries were gone. She didn't know why here memory was gone and didn't know how to treat that. When asked what she wanted to do since she'd been treated, Electra had decided to stay with Ash. It was obvious that a certain other yellow pokemon was instrumental in this choice

Right now Ash was trying to call Claire in Blackthorn to let her know that he was still on his way but would be delayed. The line rang and finally Richie's face appeared on the screen. "Hey Richie." Ash Said happily. He hadn't talked to his friend in ages.

"Ash!" Exclaimed Richie "We've been worried man. You were supposed to be here two days ago!"

"We got held up." Explained Ash "Ever hear of Trainers' Forest?"

"You didn't go through there did you?" Asked a disbelieving Richie "You'd have to be an idiot to…" At the look on Ash's face Richie stopped talking and was doing his best to contain his laughter.

"Its not funny!" Yelled Ash "I didn't know and now half of our pokemon are hurt!"

"Our?" Asked Richie

"I'm traveling with someone." Said Ash

"Who?" Asked Richie "Do I know them."

"Yes but let's leave it at that for now." Said Ash "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be there as soon as our pokemon are healed."

"Okay Ash I'll let Claire know."

"Well Richie I'll see-" He was cut off by a wall in the pokemon center collapsing "What the hell!"

"What's going on Ash!" Asked Richie

Ash turned around and saw several figures in black with the tell-tale red 'R' in the center of their uniforms. "Not again." Groaned Ash "Its Team Rock-" He didn't finish because the line went dead and several pokemon were released. Ash knew this was bad.

…

Onix surfaced right in the middle of the Veridian Gym arena. Brock ran out of the hole behind Onix and Lombre brought up the rear. As soon as the group made it to the entrance doors Brock knew something was wrong. There should have been a lot more resistance then there had been. His suspicions were proven correct when the doors opened and about a hundred Rockets armed with guns or pokemon were standing on the other side. Behind him he heard more footsteps and realized that he was surrounded. Leading the group in front of him was none other then Creig.

"Well, well, well." Said Creig jovially "What do we have here."

"Looks like someone was trying to escape." Said Butch from behind Brock. "The boss isn't going to like this Slate."

"The boss can shove it for all I care." Said Brock

"You'd better watch your mouth or someone might get hurt." Said Creig. "Now return those pokemon or we'll fire."

Brock did as he was told and returned Onix and Lombre to their pokeballs.

"Now Slate you're gong to learn what happens when you cross Team Rocket." Said Creig. He snapped his fingers and a cage was lowered from the rafters. In the cage were Seven people who looked quite a bit like Brock.

_Oh no. _Thought Brock _He wouldn't_. Creig threw a pokeball in the air and Moltres flew up to the level of the cage. "No!" Yelled Brock. The children in the cage screamed when they realized what was about to happen. "NO!" yelled Brock again.

"Moltres, Overheat!"

Brock felt movement on his right shoulder and He heard Sabrina speak into his mind. _"There's nothing you can do for them now."_ She said _"Hold on to me as tight as you can and the other girl too."_ Brock knew she was right and held on tight. There was a flash of light just as a massive jet of flames was sent straight at the cage.

…

Claire had just finished a very tough Gym Battle when Richie came running into the arena. "Claire Ash is in trouble!" He said frantically. "He's at the Mahogany Town Pokemon Center and a bunch of Team Rocket members just showed up."

"Did he say how many there were?" Asked Claire as she and Richie headed outside to find Gary.

"No." Said Richie "He had just called to tell me that he would be late getting here because he took a detour through Trainers' Forest." Said Richie

"Trainers' Forest!" Asked an astonished Claire "Are his pokemon alright?" She asked

"Apparently not." Said Richie "He said he was traveling with someone and that both of them had severely injured Pokemon."

Claire simply nodded and whistled for Dragonite once they'd gotten outside. Within seconds the large dragon pokemon came settling down. Gary was riding on the dragons back and seemed to be a little worse for wear due to the blinding speed in which Dragonite answered his summons.

"Dragonite I need you to take me to Mahogany town as fast as you can." Said Claire urgently.

"What's going on?" Asked Gary

"Ash is in trouble!" Said Richie

Gary hopped off of Dragonite's Back and Claire got on. Richie released Zippo and climbed on the Charizard's back. "Gary I need you to stay here and guard the valley while we're gone." Said Claire.

"Sure thing." Said Gary. He threw a pokeball to Richie who caught it. "That's Alakazam." Said Gary "If you get into trouble have him teleport here and get me."

"Gotcha." Said Richie. Richie and Claire ordered their pokemon to take off and in a large cloud of dust they were on their way.

…

Brock, Sabrina and Mae appeared in a cave with a flash of white light. Brock looked around and saw what looked like a bed of moss in the corner of the cave. He laid the girls gently down on it and started walking toward the entrance of the cave. _"There's a river not far from here." _Said Sabrina telepathically then all was silent. Brock looked over to her and saw that she was clearly unconscious once again.

Having nothing else to do Brock went and looked for the river. He didn't really have any thoughts in his mind. Everything was just numb. Once he found the river he realized he would need to find some means of getting water to his companions. He saw some large rocks and had an idea. He released Onix and had him use Horn Drill on two of the medium sized stones. He stopped the drill before it went all the way through and made two makeshift bowls. He filled them up with water and headed back toward the cave. He only focused on taking care of the two women in the cave because if he thought of anything else he was afraid he'd loose it. The one thing he did think about the events of the past few hours was that he was going to make sure Creig died a horrible and painful death. And he wanted to do it with his bare hands.

…

**A/N: That's it for today folks. I'll have the next update out soon and I will probably finish this story in December since the quarter ends then and I'll have like 3 weeks with nothing better to do. Also I could use a beta reader to help me out with editing and such. That would improve the overall quality of the story. If you're interested in helping me out e-mail me. Only do so if you're a good speller and have a knack for pointing out things that spell-check might miss.**

**Until Next Time…**


	32. Chapter Power of the Chosen

**Chosen's Power**

Rayquaza flew over the ocean seeking his target. He knew that it was near and he could sense the taint of the foul being. He didn't know how it had escaped the prison his father had made for it, but he was going to make sure it didn't escape again. He saw something in the distance and knew that it was what he sought. The being looked like an abomination with the fused parts of both Kyogre and Groudon making up it's new body. As Rayquaza approached the virus addressed him.

"My look how you've grown." Said Deoxys mockingly "The last time I saw you, you were only the size of a garden Ekans."

"I don't know what your purpose is for destroying the two pokemon that make up that thing you call a body." Said Rayquaza "But you won't defile this planet any further." He fired a Hyper Beam at the alien who dodged it and shot out a tentacle and wrapped it around the dragon king's neck and squeezed. Rayquaza used his considerable length to strike the alien and cause it to release him. He fired another Hyper Beam and again the alien dodged. Instead of countering with a tentacle strike though it instead fired an Ice Beam. The intense cold attack slammed into Rayquaza and almost froze him solid. He was extremely stiff from such a fearsome attack but he wasn't out yet. He started gathering sunlight in his mouth and fired a Solar Beam at the monstrosity which called itself a Pokemon and the attack struck dead center. The alien was sent tumbling through the air. Rayquaza took the moment to take a breather, but he knew the battle was just beginning.

…

Ash realized at once that he, Misty and the pokemon were in a lot of trouble. There were several Rockets against the two of them and several wounded pokemon. Unfortunately for him there were no other trainers in the center at the time so he was basically on his own. One of the figures stepped forward and a Persian trailed beside him.

"Hand over your pokemon and no one gets hurt." He said

"Not a chance!" Said Ash "Go Onix, Silver!" The two pokemon came out of their pokeballs and took their fighting stances

"Suicune, Gyarados I choose you!" Said Misty as she threw her pokeballs into the air. The two water pokemon roared in defiance as they materialized from their balls and took their positions beside Ash's pokemon. Electra jumped down from Ash's shoulder and took a position between Onix and Suicune

"You think five pokemon can beat all ten of us?" Asked the lead Rocket mockingly "What a pokemon trainer you must be, stupid boy. Go Houndoom, Persian, Nidoking, Kingler and Lugia!"

The other Rockets sent their other pokemon forward which were already out of their balls from when they'd burst through the wall. There were several Spearow, Crawdaunt and a Sableye here and there. Adding a fully grown Lugia to the mix made the odds very daunting.

"Onix use Earthquake, Silver take Electra into the air and attack Lugia with Hyper Beam and Thunder!"

Silver hesitated for a moment not wanting to harm his father, but when he saw that his father's eyes had no recognition he nodded gravely and aloud Electra to hop onto his back and he started to charge the most powerful Hyper Beam he could fire.

"Suicune Hydro Pump, Gyarados Twister!" Ordered Misty

"Protect!" Ordered the lead Rocket. All of Team Rocket's pokemon started glowing a yellowish white color and a huge translucent barrier erected itself in front of them. The combined force of Ash and Misty's pokemon didn't even make a scratch in the barrier.

"Aero Blast" Ordered the lead Rocket and Lugia immediately complied "Houndoom Fire Blast on that Pikachu, Persian Hyper Beam on that Lugia, Kingler Hydro Pump that Onix!"

The other Rockets also ordered attacks and as hard as the heroes' pokemon tried they couldn't dodge them all and shortly only Suicune was standing and that was just barely. The legendary beast let out a terrifying Roar and several of the weaker pokemon returned to their pokeballs. The Aurora Pokemon then unleashed a spectacular Blizzard attack that not even the hastily erected Protect could block. This took out all but the leader's pokemon which appeared to be at an extremely high level.

"Impressive." Said the leader "Unfortunately that was your last chance to defeat me. Thunder!" All of his pokemon even Kingler charged electricity and fired a massive wave of thunder at Suicune. The bolt of lightning struck the beast and he howled in pain before collapsing to the floor in a singed heap. Ash and Misty returned their pokemon and looked at their adversaries.

Ash was desperate. He couldn't allow Team Rocket to win. He now recognized the voice of the leader as Giovanni and he would not allow that man to beat him. He felt something within him stir and felt the Dragon Emblem on his forehead resonate with energy. He was vaguely aware of a collective gasp around him before his world completely changed.

…

Brock made another trip to the river to refill his bowls with water. Both girls were extremely dehydrated and really needed to be in a hospital, either that or a friendly Chansey or Blissy. He went back into the cave and sat the bowl down next to Mae. He gently lifted it to her lips and allowed her to take some small sips of water. She started to splutter and he helped her sit up to release the excess water. She glared at him but allowed him to help her. Brock knew why she did that and at this point he didn't much care. He knew what he had done in Pallet was despicable, but that was no reason to refuse his help if he offered it. However if she decided she didn't want him to help her he wouldn't. Sabrina on the other hand was about as emotionless as Brock. He understood why as she'd been through similar trials as himself. Her pokemon were in bad shape too. Only her Xatu was in decent condition, but even it still couldn't battle until it got a good meal and some proper rest. His own pokemon needed the same thing and Brock was racking his brain for a place he could take them that would allow them to rest. Suddenly it clicked. The perfect place that hardly anyone knew about that would have at least some proper food and a few beds.

"We need to move from here." Said Brock

"And where will we go?" Asked Mae "Pallet is close, oh wait you helped burn it down!"

"I know I did but that won't help us right now." Said Brock "I have a lot to make up for and I've already suffered for my mistakes, so I don't need you breathing down my neck. If you don't want to come then you can stay here and die."

This got the brunette silent and Brock once again hoisted the girls over his shoulders and headed to the pokemon sanctuary where Ash had found Bulbasaur. It would take him a few hours but when he got there he'd be able to get some proper rest, well as proper as his nightmares aloud him to anyway.

…

Rayquaza waited for his enemy to return to the fight and took the opportunity to use Recover since he was certain Deoxys was doing the same thing. He sensed a presence behind him and turned just in time to be slammed in the face by a Shadow Bal. He felt the dark energy burn away at his defenses and knew he couldn't afford too many more hits like that. He shot his Dragonbreath in an arch and managed to graze the alien with the blue fire. Deoxys retaliated with a Hydro Pump and Solar Beam combo attack which shocked the Dragon God slightly. He barely dodged the attack and part of it caught him in the side.

"Had enough upstart?" Asked the alien mockingly "You aren't even half the challenge your father was."

"Your petty taunts won't affect me monster." Said Rayquaza "I'll finish what my father started all those millennia ago."

"Yes you shall succeed in ending your pathetic line once and for all." Jeered Deoxys "I am going to enjoy integrating your corpse into my new body."

Rayquaza didn't respond with words. Instead he summoned an attack that he normally would be unable to do. He focused all his energy and summoned as much debris from space as he could and released it in a devastating Meteor Mash attack. Deoxys was momentarily shocked and this proved to be a fatal error on his part because it was just enough time for the rocks to start plowing into him. When the attack was over his body was severely damaged and blood flowed freely from several wounds. Rayquaza felt momentarily exhausted, but suddenly he felt a wave of energy rush through him and felt something in him stir. Ash was unlocking the true power of the Dragon Emblem and as a result as the one he bestowed him with it he too felt it's effects.

…

Misty was shocked when she saw her boyfriend start to glow like a pokemon evolving. She let out an involuntary gasp when he suddenly started to change shape. Moments later where there once was a sixteen year old human now floated an enormous dragon which was all black with silvers rings along its serpentine length. The dragon roared and lunged at Lugia. The Diving Pokemon was slammed into and through the remaining ceiling before the dragon clamped it's jaws onto one of the birds wings and then threw him back towards Giovanni's other pokemon. Kingler, Nidoking, and Houndoom were all crushed under Lugia's immense wait and Giovanni was still staring shocked at the dragon. This didn't last long though because he was soon giving his pokemon orders once more.

"Get up you useless weaklings!" He barked "Fire Ice Beam at it! Persian Furry Swipes!"

The pokemon complied, but the creature moved out of the way and countered the Ice Beam with a Flamethrower which was powerful enough to take out Persian and Nidoking. This left the odds three to one, but with one of those three being an extremely powerful legendary pokemon the chances of the dragon winning were still low in Misty's opinion. The dragon roared and a tremor went through the building causing the Rockets and Misty to stumble.

"Don't just stand there you fools!" Roared Giovanni "Go back to the blimp and bring more pokemon!"

The other Rockets complied and Misty decided she too needed to get the other pokemon out of here. She scooped Electra off of the ground where she'd collapsed after the Aero Blast attack and headed toward the recovery room where the other pokemon where still recovering.

"What's gong on out there!" Asked Joy who was nearly hysterical

"Team Rocket." Said Misty

("Those Bastards.") Said Mune ("Why can't they ever leave us alone?")

("It's because their attracted to my shocking personality.") Said Pikachu ("Hey what happened to her?") He asked inclining his head toward Electra

"Aero Blast." Said Misty

("Lugia's here?") Asked Pikachu ("Oh crap, wait where's Ash?")

"Did you feel that rumble a while back?" Asked Misty and they nodded "Don't ask me how but he did that."

("How?") Asked Dawn who it seemed had recently woken up.

"I'll explain as best I can later." Said Misty "We need to get out of here. I'm sorry guys but all of you are going to need to go in balls."

("Fine.") Said Pikachu bitterly

("I've never been in one before.") Said Dawn ("I guess it couldn't be that bad.")

("Whatever.") Said Mune

Misty withdrew her pokeballs and returned Staryu, Psyduck, Corsala and Politoed. She then grabbed some empty pokeballs from a shelf and threw them at Dawn , Mune and Pikachu. The electric mouse initially resisted a bit but the other two were immediately secure within the ball. She did the same for Ariados, Heracross and the other pokemon in the center with the help of Joy. Soon they were heading out the back entrance to the center just as the building collapsed from the intense battle.

…

Richie and Claire rode their pokemon over the heights of Mahogany Town and saw smoke coming from the Pokemon Center. Team Rocket was blocking all attempts by the local police and trainers to get into the center but they flew right over the impromptu barricade and continued on toward the center. As they got closer they saw two large figures floating in the air. One was distinctly Lugia and the other was a pokemon neither of them had seen before. The large serpent was attacking Lugia furiously and the Sea Guardian was hard pressed to combat the powerful foe. They saw more Rockets heading back toward the battle and Richie released Entei while Claire called out Flygon. The two pokemon stopped the Rockets from interfering and Claire and Richie went down to join them. There were five Rockets in all and they each had a pokeball. A Sneasle, Raticate, Dodrio, Jinx and Magnaton came forth to oppose them. Entei made short work of the Sneasle and Magnaton with a Fire Blast. Dragonite took care of the Raticate by giving it a vicious body slam. Flygon roasted Jinx with a Dragonbreath attack and Zippo used Fire Blast to decimate Jinx. The Rockets recalled their pokemon and fled and the group turned to watch the battle between Lugia and the dragon.

…

Rayquaza let the energy flow through him and he launched an Extreme Speed attack at the battered alien which drilled a hole straight trough it. Deoxys didn't show any outward signs of being in pain, but Rayquaza was positive that the vile creature was feeling some effects from his efforts. The alien glowed slightly for a moment and then it was whole once more with no signs of ever being damaged. Rayquaza realized that the only way to defeat the creature was too somehow stop it's body from regenerating. Thinking quickly he called on his power once more this time summoning the strongest Surf attack his power could muster. A humongous tsunami crashed into the alien and Rayquaza wasted no time in firing an Ice Beam at the water where the alien was and soon enough there was a huge block of ice with Deoxys' form in the middle. Rayquaza knew that this wasn't enough to hold the alien so he pumped even more ice into the pile until he could no longer see the alien within. He then mustered all his strength into lifting the entire iceberg out of the water and floating carrying it into the upper atmosphere. When he got into space he headed toward the moon where he deposited the iceberg. He fired another Ice Beam to ensure that it was frozen all the way through he then blasted the Iceberg with a Hyper Beam causing it to shatter. He could see pieces of the alien's frozen body scattered with the ice and he fired a Blizzard once more to make sure that each part was encased in its own icy prison. If this didn't hold the monster he didn't know what would. He made his way back to earth and the energy he'd been feeling ebbed away. He landed in a valley and immediately collapsed before a very shocked Gary Oak.

…

Ash didn't know how he was suddenly an exact replica of Rayquaza but at this point he didn't really care. His main goal was tearing Lugia limb from limb by any means necessary. He fired a Hyper Beam at the giant bird which hit it's mark dead center. He could see Giovanni issuing orders to the pokemon and the sight of the man who had caused him so many problems over the years further enraged him. He launched an Extreme Speed attack straight at the Team Rocket boss and he would have hit his mark had it not been for the intervention of Lugia. The Sea Guardian took the blow for his master and the high impact tackle sent the bird into the ground where he made a twenty foot crater. Ash flew out of the hole and gathered more energy for another Hyper Beam. Something in the back of his head was telling him to stop, that he had won and that was enough. However a stronger part of him was telling him to prove his power by totally obliterating his foe. He didn't get the chance to contemplate further though because Giovanni had recalled Lugia and was hightailing it out of the ruins of the center. Ash wasn't going to allow him to get away, but he heard someone calling his name and telling him to stop.

"Ash that's enough!" Yelled Misty "You have to stop!"

Part of him wanted to. But another part wanted to destroy the man fleeing away from him. He lunged after Giovanni ignoring the shouts for him to stop. He felt something bash into his side and turned to see Entei and Zippo. The two fire pokemon had used Skull Bash on him. This made him angry. How dare they attack him! He fired a Dragonbreath at them but the two fire pokemon dodged. He felt an intense fire wash over his body and whipped around to see Dragonite and Flygon firing Dragonbreath attacks of their own. The combined force of the attacks caused him to collapse to the ground and his power ebbed away. He felt himself change back into his normal form and found himself looking at the sky. His view of the blue yonder was obstructed by a head wearing a pokemon league hat with wavy brown hair.

"What the hell was that Ash?" Asked Richie

"I have no idea." Panted Ash "I couldn't stop." He said "I wanted to but there was a part of me that wanted to just destroy everything that had ever made me angry." The next thing he felt was arms wrapping themselves around his neck. "Hey Mist."

"Don't you ever do that again Ash!" She yelled pulling away from him slightly "I didn't know what happened to you, I was so scared."

"I don't even know why it happened, but I'll think about it later." He told her "Are the pokemon alright?"

"I returned them to their balls." She said

"Good." He said "I think I'll just sleep a bit now." And with that he slumped against her shoulder and was out like a light.

"Wait." Said Richie "Did I miss something or did he just call you Misty?"

"I'm hiding from Team Rocket." She said "Although I think Giovanni recognized me."

"I figured that was him." Said Claire "He wouldn't trust anyone else with Lugia."

"We should get the pokemon somewhere where they can rest, not to mention Ash here." Said Richie "Then we can figure out how exactly he turned into a huge pokemon."

("The mark on his head.") Said Dragonite ("It is the mark of the Dragon God.")

"You mean Rayquaza?" Asked Claire "Well he did look a bit like Rayquaza but the color was different."

"Can we discuss this later?" Asked Misty "I would really just like to get to Blackthorn and get some rest."

"Just one more question." Said Richie "You wouldn't happen to have seen someone with a Suicune would you?"

"I'll be happy to show you Suicune when we get to the Gym." Said Misty

"I thought so." Said Claire "Now that we have everyone with a legendary with us we can start planning a way to stop Giovanni."

The group climbed onto the flying pokemon with Misty riding behind Claire on Dragonite and Richie balancing Ash over Zippo's back. In a few short wing strokes they were airborne and on their way to Blackthorn at last.

…

It took Brock the better part of the day to make it through the forest and into the area near the river that would lead to the pokemon sanctuary. He saw an Oddish just like last time and followed it into the meadow where a solitary cottage sat. A young woman with green hair was sitting in a chair on the porch of the house watching the pokemon scamper around the meadow happily. When she saw Brock she gasped and ran over to him.

"Brock!" She said "I heard you were dead. And is that Sabrina?"

"I'll explain everything later Janine." He told her "Right now thest two need water and as much medical attention as you can give them, I'll explain why I couldn't take them to a hospital later. Also there are some pokemon that could use the same treatment if you don't mind."

"Bring them in." She said "Although you've got a lot of explaining to do."

"I'll do the best I can." He said "I'll warn you now that you won't like everything I tell you and some of it may downright make you sick, but as long as you help these girls and pokemon I don't really care."

"You must have quite a tale." She said "My job is to help pokemon so don't worry about that, I suppose the stuff I won't like has to do with why your wearing a Team Rocket uniform?"

"Most of it." He said

"Come on then." She said ushering him inside. She lead him into a room with four empty beds and he laid the girls down on two of the beds. They had fallen asleep while he was walking and he was glad that they weren't awake for the moment. He settled in to tell the tail that would most likely loose the closest thing he had to a friend at the moment, but it was all that he deserved in his opinion.

…

**A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. I'd like to say that I'm sorry for not updating in three months but I just couldn't work on this story. There was a plot in my head for another story that I was trying to ignore and in the process couldn't focus on this fic. Since I have now started posting that story the plot bunnies have relented some and now I can post a moderate length chapter. I am sorry to say that this is not my main project anymore, but I will update it more often then I have been. If your interested in my other story look in my profile and you'll see it. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed it is really what makes me want to finish this fic. As always…**

**Until Next Time…**


	33. Assault on Fuschia Gym

**A/N: Sorry about the wait on this chapter. As I said last time this ins't my main project anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm abandoning it either. I wouldn't do that to you guys, even though for a while it probably seemed like I did abandon it. The problem was I couldn't focus on it because the other story was in my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I stated writing it. Now that I have started it I can donate a little time to this fic once again. So I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and I apolagize again for the wait time. **

**Assault on Fuschia Gym**

Jessie, James and Meowth walked through a random forest having no idea where they were. After the F.U.C.K. ME had been destroyed they had 'blasted off again!' and landed in a tree with a hive of angry Beedrill. After running away from the raging Bug-Pokemon they ran into a den of Vulpix. The fire foxes didn't take to kindly to having there den destroyed and the unfortunate Rockets found themselves running once again, only this time their uniforms and/or fur was on fire. Needing to put it out they'd run into the closest body of water they could find only to disrupt a particularly violent school of Goldeen and Seaking. This had forced them to try and swim to shore, but the Vulpix were still there, so they took the only course of action they could. They swam for their lives all the while receiving Horn Attacks from the enraged Water-Pokemon.

Their suffering didn't end there though. While swimming they'd run a foul of some Lanturn and received a powerful shock as punishment. Next they found themselves going over a waterfall where they had barely missed the jagged rocks below. Unfortunately they'd once again disturbed some wild pokemon, only this time it was a family of bathing Ursaring. The bear-like pokemon had chased them for a good two miles before letting them get away.

Now the haggard trio slumped against a tree panting heavily.

"Why do we have to suffer so much?" Whined James

"Because you always ruin our master plans." Shot Jessie

"Both of yous mess up our plans." Said Meowth "BLOOD, DEATH, ARMAGEDDON!"

"You're still doing that?" Asked James

"Looks that way." Moaned Meowth "BATHE IN THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT, DESTROY ALL THAT IS GOOD AND WHOLESOME!"

"Will you shut up!" Roared Jessie "James do something about him!"

"Well I did spend some time in a covenant." Said James "One second." He got up and went behind a tree moments later he came out wearing a black habit with a white color and hood which also had white around it.

"What the hell?" Asked Jessie confused "When you said covenant I thought you might have been a monk."

"Nope I was a nun." Said James proudly "They called me sister Mary Jane."

"Whatever just do something about him." She said gesturing to Meowth

"You stay away from my Jimmy-boy." Said Meowth backing away in fear.

"Just hold still Meowth." Said James walking toward the startled feline. "This won't hurt a bit." He grabbed Meowth by his charm and held him at eye level. With the other hand he pulled out a vial and uncorked, then he spilled the substance onto Meowth's head and started spreading it around with his finger while chanting.

"In the name of the father, the son and the moldy roast-"

"Wait moldy roast?" Asked Jessie "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I've got it covered Jess now don't break my stride." Said James "We beseech thee oh great Lucifer-,"

"James I don't think you're doing this right." Said Meowth skeptically, but James ignored him and kept going.

"-to rid this vessel of evil forces!" He then slapped Meowth across the face and started chanting again. "Cleanse it, purify it. EXPEL THESE VILE DEMONS!"

"Pfffffftttttttttttttttttt!"

"Oh my god James that is nasty!" Said Jessie holding her nose.

"Excuse me." Said James

"Hey James?" Asked Meowth

"Yes?" Asked the cross-dressing Rocket

"What is that stuff you poured on my head?"

"Oh it's a mixture of maple syrup, Muk goo, and Cacnea bile." Said James

"Get it off, get it off, get it off!" Screamed Meowth desperately "MURDER IS THE FUEL THAT DRIVES ME!"

"James you idiot, you made it worse!" Screamed Jessie before smacking James with her fan.

Unfortunately for the Rockets their antics had attracted a flock of Farfetch'd who thought it would be fun to peck at them. So they once again were running off again.

…

"Well Brock that was quite a tale." Said Janine "I don't really know what to say."

"Neither do I." Said Brock "I wish I could take back what I did, Ho-Oh knows I do, but I can't."

"No you can't." Said Janine "What you can do is try to make up for it though."

"How do I do that?" Asked Brock

"For starters you should try to find Ash and hope he forgives you, if he doesn't then at least you tried." Said Janine "After that you should try to do what you can to stop Giovanni. You're a very talented trainer and your Pokemon respect you even after everything you did."

"I suppose." Said Brock "But I still don't see how I can stop Giovanni on my own."

"You're not on your own." Said a voice from the door. Brock turned to see Sabrina leaning against the doorframe looking very tired, but otherwise alright. "I have my own score to settle with that bastard."

"You really shouldn't be up and about." Said Brock

"My psychic abilities let me heal a lot faster than a normal human." Said Sabrina "Plus Alakazam wants to start training, as do the rest of my pokemon."

"But their all severely injured!" Protested Janine

"They used Recover the moment they had enough energy to do so, all they need now is a night in the rejuvenator and they'll be as good as new, physically anyway."

"Well I suppose you'll have to wait until morning to train then." Said Janine

"I suppose." Said Sabrina "I'll need a training partner Brock."

"Sure." Said Brock "You were always the second hardest Gym Leader to beat."

"Giovanni doesn't count." Said Sabrina

"I wasn't counting him." Said Brock "I was counting me."

"We'll see then." Said Sabrina "I suppose I'll rest then."

"So…" Said Brock "You aren't going to throw me out and call me a heartless monster?"

"That would be counter productive." Said Janine "I'm appalled at what you've done, as I find it disgusting that you killed those baby pokemon as well as helping destroy Pallet and Lavender Town, but I can understand your position even if I don't agree with it."

Brock sighed in relief. He'd been sure that he'd have to fend for himself now, and even though she did think he was disgusting at least she wasn't throwing him out. He thought about what she'd said before and wondered if he'd ever be able to atone for what he'd done.

…

Pikachu walked back and forth at the foot of Ash's bed. It had now been three weeks since they'd gotten out of Mahogany Town and Ash still hadn't woken up. The electric mouse thought about all that had happened since arriving in the Dragon's Holy Land and wondered what it all meant.

Upon arriving Gary had been frantically telling Claire how a huge Dragon-Pokemon had landed right in front of him and almost crushed him in the process. Pikachu had recognized the dragon as Rayquaza and was tempted to shock him for what he'd done to him on the Sky Pillar, but Misty had seen his cheeks sparking and had promptly berated him for wanting to harm an injured pokemon. Electra had also looked at him oddly and that had made him feel bad.

That was another thing on his mind. He didn't know why but he felt the need to earn Electra's approval. He'd seen plenty of female Pikachu before, but besides the initial attraction he hadn't felt like he had to be near them. It was odd since it wasn't even mating season and he was still going nuts over a stupid female. He was certain that he was the most powerful Pikachu in the world and he shouldn't let one girl get to him, but she was getting to him and it was driving him crazy.

One particular incident stuck out in his mind involving said Pikachu. It had been two days after they'd arrived and Most everyone was either off training or sitting around Ash hoping he'd wake up. All except former best friends who stab you in the back, or Sparky for short. Pikachu had caught the traitor trying to put moves on /Electra and he hadn't taken it too well. However he didn't act like his trainer and simply rush into things head on. He had calmly pulled Sparky to the side and explained to him what would happen if he didn't lay off. Sparky in turn had said that he could do whatever he wanted and if Pikachu didn't like it he could bite his own cheek sacks. That was the equivalent of telling a Pikachu to 'shove it.'

What followed was a battle that had storm clouds in the sky before it was over. They drew the attention of mostly all the pokemon and trainers in the area. The battle didn't end until Garry had Alakazam use Mirror Coat and take two Thunder Attacks which bounced back and hit both Pikachu. Now no one wanted to talk to Pikachu, except for Mune who had a similar confrontation with Gary's Umbreon when he had been getting too close to Dawn for the Espeon's liking.

"Pikachu!" Called Misty taking Pikachu out of his musings "I've called you three times, why are you zoning out?"

("Just thinking.") Replied the electric mouse

"I asked you if Ash showed any signs of waking up." She asked

("Nope.") Said Pikachu ("I'm telling you it has something to do with that mark on his head and the fact that Rayquaza is still out too.")

"I really hope he wakes up soon." Said Misty "Claire wants us to do a something, but she won't tell us what it is until Ash is up and moving."

"I'm glad I mean so much to you." Said a sarcastic and croaky voice.

"Ash!" Said Misty throwing her arms around her boyfriend

"Good to see you too Mist." Said Ash hugging her back. After about a minute Ash started turning blue. "Misty air!"

"Sorry." She said and smiled sheepishly at him. "But don't you ever do that again!" She yelled

"I'm sorry." Said Ash "Next time I'll just ask the weird transformations not to come."

"You know what I meant!" Yelled Misty

("Hey Ash.") Said Pikachu hopping onto his friend's stomach

"Hey Pikachu." Said Ash "Have you been keeping out of trouble?"

"No." Said Misty "He got mad that Sparky tried to hit on Electra and the two of them almost destroyed a good portion of the Holy Land."

"Wow." Said Ash "You really like her huh?"

("Well…Gary was flirting with Misty the whole time you were out.") Said Pikachu

"He did what?" Said Ash hopping out the bed and heading toward the door. "I'll kill him!"

"Ash Pikachu's lying." Said Misty calmly "See look he's laughing his head off."

Sure enough the electric-mouse was rolling on the floor with laughter and pointing a paw at Ash.

"That's not funny Pikachu." Said Ash "Gary could have been seriously hurt."

"By what Ashy-boy?" Asked Gary coming into the room "Surely not by you?"

"Don't start Gary." Said Ash then his stomach grumbled "Hey can I get some food?"

"Aren't you going to ask about your pokemon?" Asked Misty

"Oh yeah." Said Ash "How are they doing and how's Psyduck?"

"Everyone's back at perfect health except for Psyduck." Said Misty "For some reason his headache seems to have gotten worse."

"So he can use his psychic attacks now right?" Asked Ash

"You know I didn't even think of that." Said Misty "I'll have to see later."

"Good now can I have some food?" Asked Ash

"Is that all you think about?" Asked Misty incredulously

"Hey I haven't eaten in…wait how long have I been out?" Asked Ash

("Three weeks.") Said Pikachu

"THREE WEEKS!" Yelled Ash

"It's not that bad Ash." Said Gary "You really haven't missed much. Giovanni's been real quiet since the attack on Mahogany and all the pokemon have been doing is training."

"I haven't eaten in THREE WEEKS?" Said Ash again ignoring Gary's comment. "I'm starving!" With that Ash ran out of the room in search of the kitchen.

…

Three hours later found the group assembled out around where Rayquaza was still lying on the ground. The Dragon God was awake however he was still exhausted from his battle with Deoxys.

"I see you've found all the chosen that have been awakened so far." Said Rayquaza

"What there are more?" Asked Gary

"Not yet." Said the dragon "But in time there might be."

"So what now?" Asked Ash

"Well I've got a plan." Said Claire "I've found out that the leader of Fuschia Gym is Giovanni's number two. His gym has a lot of labs underneath as well as a lot of trainers living there."

"So we take it out." Said Gary

"Yeah I'm sick of always defending and never attacking." Said Richie "You can't win with just defense."

"So whose going?" Asked Misty

"I can't go." Said Claire "If I was seen they'd try to use me as an excuse to openly attack Johto."

"I'm going." Said Gary "I'm going crazy just being here with nothing to do but train."

"Count me in." Said Ash

"You just woke up!" Said Misty "You can't go!"

"I feel fine Mist!" Protested Ash

"Ashton Satoshi Ketchum you are not going and that is FINAL!" Roared Misty

("Ash I'd give this one up if I were you.") Advised Mune

("Listen to reason Ash.") Said Pikachu "_Although I really want to go too."_ He added mentally

"Ash is fine Misty." Said Rayquaza "The transformation just wore him out."

"That's another thing." Said Richie "Why did Ash transform?"

"It's the power of the mark." Said Rayquaza "The chosen ones can assume the form of those that marked them, when the need arises."

"Like when we almost died." Said Ash "I get it."

"Does that mean I can turn into an Entei?" Asked Richie

"Did he mark you?" Asked Rayquaza

"No." Answered Richie

"Well when he does you will be able too, but not before." Said Rayquaza

("I suppose you want me to mark you then?") Asked Entei to his trainer. Richie nodded ("Hold out your right arm.") Richie did so and Entei took one of his claws and raked it across the skin of Richie's forearm carefully drawing a flame. Next he took his paw and placed it atop the flame making Richie wince. The mark was now a flame with Entei's paw print around it. Suicune and Raikou did the same with their trainers drawing a water drop and lightning bolt respectively and then placing their paw prints over them.

"Why is it tingling?" Asked Richie looking at his mark

"Because you're near other chosen ones." Said Rayquaza "Now Ash I didn't do this before, but I submit to be your pokemon TEMPORARILY."

"You mean it?" Asked Ash looking extremely happy.

"Just throw the pokeball before I change my mind." Said Rayquaza irritably

"Okay." Said Ash "Ultra Ball go!" He yelled as he threw the gold and black ball. It hit the Dragon God and a red beam came out and encompassed him. A few seconds later the ball was on the ground and a beep was heard signaling a successful capture.

"Well now that that's settled I guess I'm going." Said Ash

"If you're going I'm going so I can keep you out of trouble." Said Misty

"So everyone is going except Claire." Said Richie "Now we need to come up with a plan."

"Well we can just fly there." Said Ash

"Works for me." Said Gary "Can I borrow Dragonite Claire?"

"If he wants to go with you." Said the Gym Leader "What do you say Dragonite?"

("Whatever.") Said the dragon

"Oh Ash I modified your Poke'dex so you can hold unlimited pokemon." Said Gary "I figure you'll need it if you decide to run through another forest full of annoying trainers."

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Asked Ash

"Nope." Said Gary

The group disassembled and Ash went off to the PC in order to reformat his party. He had quite a few pokemon, but he didn't feel the need to have more than ten out at a time. He decided on a party of Pikachu, Mune, Dawn, Onyx, Crawdaunt, Tauros, Quilava, Maganium, Croconaw and after talking to Lisa Charizard. He also had Electra, Silver and Rayquaza making his party of thirteen pokemon.

A few hours later the group of four assembled at the Dragon's Shrine. After much grumbling, mostly from Pikachu, all the pokemon were returned to their balls in order to make the trip easier. Ash called out Charizard, Richie called out Zippo, Dragonite walked up to Gary and Misty called out Gyarados. They all mounted their pokemon and took off into the air heading for Fuschia.

…

Giovanni paced back and forth in his grand office inside Veridian Gym. He didn't know how the plan had failed, and this time he couldn't really blame anyone. The boy had surprised him by turning into what he no knew was a Rayquaza. Knowing this he knew that next time he faced the boy he'd need something more powerful. It was time to step up Mewtwo's training.

He walked down to the training area set aside for his prized creation. Once inside he smirked at Mewtwo's sedated form against the wall. The beast hadn't tried anything since the slave helmet was modified and this time Giovanni was sure it was going to 100 obedient. Raising his communicator to his mouth he switched to the labs' frequency.

"Are the prototypes ready?" He asked

"Which ones sir?" Asked a scientist on the other end

"The Class D specimens." Said Giovanni

"They are ready for testing sir." Said the scientist

"Good, transfer them to M-Arena." Said Giovanni

"Roger sir." Said the scientist

Giovanni waited patiently for the transfer machine in the corner of the room to activate. It did after only a few minutes' wait. The Rocket boss took out six pokeballs which looked like Ultra Balls only without the gold stripes and having a silver bottom instead of a white. He threw the pokeballs releasing six creatures of all black with menacing crimson eyes. There was a Rhydon, Nidoking and a Beedrill. The other three were hard to recognize. They seemed to be crosses between many different pokemon. They had six arms. A set of Machamp arms, Scizor blades and Tentacruel tentacles. They stood on two legs which looked as though they came from a Dragonite. They also had four large Charizard wings. The heads were those of Aggron. They also had a tail which resembled a Raichu's only much thicker and having a spiked ball on the end instead of a lightning bolt. The creatures were also plated with thick steel-rock skin. Giovanni called the creatures Chimera Clones. The other creatures were simply normal pokemon who had been spliced with cells from Dark-type pokemon. The Chimera Clones also had been spliced with Dark cells.

"This is your ultimate test Mewtwo." Said Giovanni he hit a button on the inside of his suit jacket and Mewtwo's restraints were released.

"Now all of you attack!" He ordered

Mewtwo simply stood there observing his strange opponents. The Chimeras charged first two of them lashing out with their tentacles and slashing with their blades. The third launched a Hyper Beam-like attack only it was pure black energy. The Rhydon leapt into the air gaining impressive height for its massive weight. The Beedrill took to the air firing off Poison Sting attacks which also held a dark aura. Nidoking started a Rollout attack circling Mewtwo while steadily gaining speed. The clone pokemon didn't even flinch as the attacks connected. He simply stood there taking on damage for about five minutes until his eyes suddenly glowed purple. He thrust both hands forward and sent all the offending pokemon slamming into the titanium wall.

Wasting no time the clone pokemon pressed his advantage using a Double Team attack he divided into six different copies. Unlike a normal Double Team these copies weren't illusions due to Mewtwo's incredible psychic energy as well as his erratic DNA. Each copy took on a pokemon. The first aimed a Hyper Beam right at the head of one of the Chimera Clones. He ruthlessly blasted the abomination killing it instantly. The next copy took a different approach. Instead of a Hyper Beam it used a super strong Blizzard attack which froze the Chimera solid. After that it launched a wave of psychic energy which shattered the ice as well as the frozen pokemon.

The third clone didn't have as easy a time. The Chimera wasn't as dazed as its siblings so it managed to hit the clone with a Faint Attack and followed up with a Shadow Ball. Mewtwo caught the attack, added his own energy and sent it hurtling back blasting a hole straight through the offending pokemon's chest. He then dodged an attack from the Beedrill who was giving his other copy a problem. Ignoring the bug knowing that his copy would take care of it he turned back to the Chimera. It wasn't dead so he prepared to finish it when Giovanni stopped him.

"Leave one alive Mewtwo." He said

The clone backed down and Giovanni returned the remaining Chimera to its pokeball. The next copy was still dealing with the Beedrill. The Dark bug was extremely fast and it was difficult to get a psychic grip on due to the Dark and Bug aspects of it. It charged at Mewtwo with a Dark Fury Cutter managing to cause some significant damage to the clone's chest. Mewtwo didn't take kindly to this and hit the offending bug with the strongest Flamethrower he could muster. The results were instantly satisfying as the bug was turned into ash. The Rhydon and Nidoking seemed to work well together so they combined their energies against the other two copies. They used Fissure attacks which managed to catch one of the clones rendering it unconscious. The remaining copy floated into the air and unleashed a psychic force which caused a whirlwind strong enough to lift the massive pokemon into the air. Next he launched a Hydro Pump from his left hand at the spinning whirlwind. The pokemon within let out cries of pain as the water hammered their rock-skin. Mewtwo released them and followed up the attack with a Psychic Blast so strong the two pokemon exploded.

"Well." Said Giovanni as the copies disappeared leaving the original alone on the field. "That's enough for today Mewtwo, those were all level 100 pokemon I must say I am very pleased."

Mewtwo simply stood there unable to respond. However inside the pokemon was plotting a way to get out of the slave helmet as well as the influence of the GS ball. It knew that if it kept fighting it would reach the point of Genocide Syndrome and be unable to control itself. If that happened he'd likely destroy the world, that despite his best efforts he'd come to enjoy in the last few years. These thoughts were obliterated as Giovanni activated the slave helmet forcing Mewtwo to bow to him. This only served to accelerate the process of Genocide Syndrome and further obliterate the clone's mind.

…

"We're almost there guys!" Called Gary over the rushing wind. They had flown south first to get over the ocean. Next they headed east over the sea to avoid being detected by radar until it was too late for their opposition to mount a proper offence. Now they were approaching the Fuschia coastline.

"Alright everyone get your masks on!" Called Richie. It was decided that they should all wear ski masks for this mission since if they were recognized it would cause them trouble later on.

The four flew straight towards the castle-like structure of Fuschia Gym. It resembled an old Japanese castle and it even housed a great deal of ninja trainers. As they approached a battalion of Beedrill met them. The bugs didn't stand a chance against the combined might of two Charizards a Gyarados and a Dragonite. It only took a few Flamethrowers and they were through.

"Alright guys each of us will take a quadrant." Said Gary "These guys are all here and they won't hesitate to kill us, so don't hold back, this is war and people have to die to win a war. Give it everything you've got and bring this place to the ground."

"Whatever you say Gary." Said Ash hesitantly. He didn't like killing things, and he'd never done it before. Gary was telling him he had to take lives of both human and pokemon and his mind was unable to grasp that concept.

"Ash get over it." Said Gary "Think about what these people did to Pallet and Lavender Town and all the other times they've tried to kill you."

The mention of Pallet was all Ash needed and he steered Charizard toward the north quadrant of the Gym. "I don't want any of you to die." He called back "Especially you Mist. I love you." With that he left them to start his assault on the Gym. The others split up as well heading for their respective areas.

…

Gary and Dragonite headed for the west part of the Gym were they found a group of trainers waiting for them. The Rockets didn't wait to give him a chance to land. They released all manner of flying pokemon, the most worrisome for Gary were the Mantine as they could use Ice Beam and Blizzard which could do considerable damage to Dragonite. Gary lifted Raikou's pokeball and released the Thunder Beast. It roared upon escaping the pokeball and this immediately sent several of the birds flying in the opposite direction. Those brave enough to withstand it were hit with a Thunder attack which utterly obliterated them.

Gary had Dragonite launch a Dragonbreath attack at the roof where the trainers were standing. This caused the wood to catch fire and sent the trainers panicking. Those that had water pokemon released them to try and fight the fire, but Raikou had now landed on the roof as well and made short work of them and their trainers. Gary recalled the Thunder Beast and moved on to the next part of the building where more trainers were pouring out.

He released his pokemon and they charged into battle to meat the opposing trainers. Umbreon slammed into anything that moved with a Faint Attack while Blastoise blasted the opposition with a torrent of pressurized water. Doduo used Tri Attack to hit incoming enemies while running around and using Fury Attack on anything that got close to it. Alakazam teleported around and used Psychic Attack which obliterated the Poison Pokemon. Archanine ran around using Flamethrower and Fire Blast, taking out the many Venamoth and Vanonat around the area. Nidoking and Nidoqueen caused massive structural damage with their Earthquake attacks and plowed through the many trainers like bowling pins. Scizor flew around attacking the bird pokemon with Dragonite. The dragon used Metal Claw and Dragonbreath to take out the avian adversaries and Scizor used Swords Dance turning itself into a living whirlwind of destruction.

Not long after it started the battle in the west quadrant was over. Gary looked over to the north quadrant just in time to see one of the massive towers, which was in flames, come toppling down.

"Looks like Ash is doing a good job." He said as he headed toward the middle of the Gym where it looked like a fierce battle was raging.

…

Misty soared over the towers of Fuschia Gym having Gyarados launch Flamethrower after Flamethrower at the building. She was doing serious damage to the structure, but she wasn't paying attention to the ground below and Gyarados was hit with a Thunderbolt attack. The atrocious pokemon grunted in pain from the electric attack and started to descend.

"Gyarados stay up as long as you can!" Misty urged, but Gyarados was already starting to fade from its long flight and being away from water for so long. Misty knew this, so as soon as she hit the ground she returned Gyarados and released her other remaining pokemon, excluding Psyduck. She didn't even give the trainers a chance to release anymore of their pokemon. Suicune, Staryu and Politoed used Blizzard attacks that combined to form a massive blast of super cold air and snow. The trainers and pokemon were stopped in their tracks by the attack and fell to Ariados' Signal Beam. Kingdra used Dragonbreath attacks against the many Poison-types that were scattered around the area while Corsala opted for using Spike Cannon against the fleeing pokemon. None of the pokemon could stand up to the might of Suicune and with the added bonus of strong water pokemon backing the aurora pokemon up it didn't take long to clear the east quadrant.

Misty looked around seeing that this part of the Gym was completely destroyed. She felt the ground shake and realized it had come from the center. She saw a flash of lighting strike somewhere in that area and headed there.

…

("Richie I can't take much more of this.") Zippo grunted as another Poison sting hit him in the underbelly. They had been flying around the south quadrant for over thirty minutes and it seemed that this quadrant housed a trainer's barracks. Zippo did his best to combat the many trainers, but alone it wasn't enough. Richie released Entei and as with Raikou he let out a roar which caused many of the weaker pokemon to scatter. Next Richie sent out Sparky, Happy, Kyra and Rose. With the added help Zippo was able to land and Richie dismounted. The Charizard returned to the air and began using Blast Burn on anything that moved. The attack hit a gas tank on the side of the building which was presumably used for heating and cooking. The explosion it caused totally destroyed the barracks and anything left inside. Soon the south quadrant was a blazing inferno and Richie headed to the middle of the Gym where it seemed the only remaining tower stood.

…

Ash jumped off Charizard and wasted no time releasing his pokemon to start their assault against the assembled trainers. There were about thirty of them in all and they all looked at Ash as if he were crazy.

"You think you can take on all of us?" One of them wearing a Rocket uniform jeered. For an answer Ash simply pointed to the trainers. Pikachu jumped forward and released a Thunder attack so strong it rendered half the trainers unconscious before they even released their pokemon. This was all that the others needed to throw out their various pokeballs. Most of them were poison pokemon like Ekans, Arbok and Gulpin. Onyx' Earthquake made short work of them and their trainers. Croconaw went around biting trainers viciously and blasting them Hydro Pump whenever the need arose. Meganium wasn't much of a match for the many bug and poison pokemon and the heat was getting to her from the fires caused by Quilava and Charizard. Ash was forced to return her to her pokeball and save her for an emergency.

Dawn and Mune worked as a team and took out the trainers that were pouring into the north quadrant from the center of the Gym. Dawn was practically invisible hidden in the shadows and Mune's psychic attacks decimated the man poison types. Eventually though the surge of trainers was getting too much for them and they fell back with the rest of Ash's pokemon.

Electra and Pikachu also worked as a team shocking anything that wasn't Ash or a pokemon they recognized. Pikachu let off a particularly powerful Thunderbolt that caused the ground to shake when it struck the flaming tower. The building collapsed almost instantly after the impact.

Ash saw the trainers pouring in from the middle and realized that they must have figured him to be the most opposition. He had an uncharacteristic smirk on his face that would have made Gary proud. "Tauros charge right through them." He ordered. The bull pokemon didn't hesitate to obey and charged at the trainers full speed. Ash knew that he could end this quickly if he sent out Rayquaza, but he didn't want it known that he had Rayquaza as he was sure Team Rocket would want it just as badly as they did Suicune, Entei and Raikou. He also didn't release Silver as he was saving him for a trump card.

He charged after Tauros and his pokemon followed suit. He came into the middle courtyard where a man in a black Gi was standing. The man held himself with an air of superiority. He had long black hair and vicious looking grey eyes. When he saw Ash he spoke.

"So you and your friends want to come and destroy my Gym?" He asked

"It isn't your Gym." Said Ash "It belongs to Koga's family, but you killed him."

"Koga was a weakling." Said Kason "And you will join him in the grave, Fire!"

("No you don't.") Said Mune erecting a massive Protect around the assembled pokemon and Ash. From the side a hail of gunfire rained down as well as a few miniature missiles. They exploded around the barrier which Mune barely managed to hold. Next a series of Hyper Beams slammed into the barrier and Mune began to waver. Just as another wave of gunfire was about to be shot at the group Charizard came flying overhead and used Blast Burn to take out the assembled snipers. Kason hissed angrily and released his pokemon. He had an Arbok, Swalot, Seadra, Tentacruel, Nidoking and Nidoqueen.

"You think that scares me?" Asked Ash "You're still going to pay for what you did to Pallet."

"So you're from that backwater town?" Asked Kason "Well I'll send you to join the rest of the people we killed there."

Kason's Nidoking and Nidoqueen surged forward intent on stomping the smaller pokemon flat. Croconaw countered with a Hydro Pump and he was joined by Crawdaunt who fired a Bubble Beam. Onyx had burrowed into the ground some time ago and was now wreaking havoc on the pokemon with his Earthquake attack. Tentacruel fired against the incoming water attacks with a Hydro Pump of its own. The force of the water was strong enough to push back against Croconaw and Crawdaunt and sent them tumbling backwards. Ash grunted in frustration at seeing two of his pokemon go down, but he didn't let it dampen his resolve.

Pikachu leapt into to battle and took out Tentacruel and Seadra in the blink of an eye with a Thunderbolt attack. Next he used his agility to run around and smack the assembled pokemon with Iron Tail. This made short work of Arbok, but it didn't seam to effect Swalot much at all. However when Charizard launched another Blast Burn attack it did effect the Poison Bag pokemon. The gasses inside of it ignited and caused an explosion which took out a support beam of the building they were standing in front of.

"Damn you boy!" Yelled Kason "This isn't over!" He threw a flash grenade to the ground and in the blink of an eye he and his remaining pokemon were gone, or so Ash thought. "Twin Needle!" Kason yelled from somewhere in the distance. Ash felt something hot stick into his back and looked over his shoulder into the red insect eyes of a Beedrill. Ash slumped to the ground as the poison started to circulate through his body.

("Ash!") Yelled Pikachu. The thunder mouse fired the Beedrill with a Thunder attack and then sniffed out Kason. The ninja had covered a good distance, but he couldn't outrun an enraged Pikachu. The rodent used his agility to get in front of the fleeing Gym Leader and sparked his cheeks threateningly.

"What can you do against me you little rat." Said Kason "I've got something special for you." He withdrew a Master Ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. "I was told not to use this, but I don't see why it matters now." From the ball appeared a pokemon that Pikachu had never seen before. It looked like a Zapdos only different. It was larger and had a tube coming from its head and going to the joint between its wings. It was also a dark orange color instead of the normal golden yellow of a regular Zapdos. "Meet Zapdostwo made from Zapdos' DNA and twice as powerful as the original, Zapdostwo obliterate this rodent, then go back and destroy the rest of the vermin in my Gym."

The Zapdos wannabe charged electricity and fired a Zap Cannon at Pikachu. The electric mouse was undaunted and fired back with a Zap Cannon of his own. The two crashed in mid air and it seemed that they were at a stalemate.

"Don't let that runt overpower you!" Yelled Kason

Zapdostwo poured everything it had into the attack and lightning surged the whole area. Pikachu started to falter, but he gritted his teeth in determination and poured even more power into the attack.

"Pika….Pika….CHUUUU!" He yelled as he poured in everything he had. The amount of energy in the air lit up the whole area and Kason was caught in the crossfire where he was charred to a crisp. Zapdostwo summoned thunderclouds to aid it and the lightning struck Pikachu. The energy surged through his small body, but it had the opposite effect as it was intended. Pikachu gathered the energy up and unleashed it in a humongous Thunder attack that slammed into Zapdostwo. The bird didn't stand a chance against such a massive attack and exploded due to the tremendous energy. Pikachu panted heavily before collapsing to the ground with exhaustion.

…

Misty ran into the middle area of the Gym and saw nothing but destruction. The central tower was destroyed along with the buildings that ran along the side separating the quadrants. She saw a group of pokemon surrounding something and she recognized them as Ash's. She ran over to them and almost got hit with a Hyper Beam from Tauros. However once the pokemon saw who she was they let their guard down and allowed her to see Ash. He was on the ground and breathing heavily. His eyes were glazed over and he was vomiting. One of the pokemon had the sense to turn his head to prevent choking, but he was still in bad shape.

"What happened to him?" She asked urgently

("A Beedrill snuck up on him.") Said Mune ("None of us saw it until it was too late.")

"Well give him an antidote!" Yelled Misty fumbling around on her person looking for one.

("We did.") Said Charizard ("It didn't work though.")

"That was probably a modified Beedrill." Said Gary coming into the area followed by Richie "Alakazam Teleport him back to Black Thorn, I know its far but you can do it."

The psychic pokemon nodded and placed a hand on Ash, before he disappeared Misty grabbed his pokeball belt and in a flash he was gone.

"Right everyone back in the balls, we'll be heading back now." Said Gary

"Where's Pikachu?" Asked Richie

("He went after Kason.") Said Electra

As if on cue the group saw a brilliant flash of light and looked toward it to see Zapdostwo explode.

"What was that?" Asked Richie

"I think it was Pikachu." Said Gary

The group rushed off in the direction of the blast and found an exhausted Pikachu lying on the ground.

"Where's Kason?" Wondered Richie

"I don't think we'll need to worry about him anymore." Said Gary "Pikachu here took out that huge bird and Kason was probably right here with him, so he's most likely dead."

Misty returned Pikachu to his pokeball and the others followed suit with their own pokemon. Soon the group was ready to leave once again. They mounted their pokemon, Misty riding Charizard since Gyarados had been knocked out, and headed back to Blackthorn where they hoped to find Ash looking better then he had when he left.

…

**A/N: Well that's it for that chapter. I'll get the next one out when I can. Please review as it is most likely to make me want to write more on this story, not saying that if you don't review I won't wright but reviews do encourage me.**

**Until Next Time...**


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